http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/philosophes/Aristote/politique1.

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[1252]

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[1252a] [1] Every state is as we see a sort of partnership,1 and every partnership is formed
with a view to some good (since all the actions of all mankind are done with a view to what they think to
be good). It is therefore evident that, while all partnerships aim at some good the partnership that is the
most supreme of all and includes all the others does so most of all, and aims at the most supreme of all
goods; and this is the partnership entitled the state, the political association.

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Those then who think that the natures of the statesman, the royal ruler, the head of an estate2
and the master of a family are the same, are mistaken (they imagine that the difference between these
various forms of authority is one of greater and smaller numbers, not a difference in the kindthat is,
that the ruler over a few people is a master, over more the head of an estate, over more still a statesman
or royal ruler, as if there were no difference between a large household and a small city; and also as to
the statesman and the royal ruler, they think that one who governs as sole head is royal, and one who,
while the government follows the principles of the science of royalty, takes turns to govern and be
governed is a statesman; but these views are not true).

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And a proof that these people are mistaken will appear if we examine the question in
accordance with our regular method of investigation. In every other matter it is necessary to analyze the
composite whole down to its uncompounded elements (for these are the smallest [20] parts of the
whole); so too with the state, by examining the elements of which it is composed we shall better discern
in relation to these different kinds of rulers what is the difference between them, and whether it is
possible to obtain any scientific precision in regard to the various statements made above. In this
subject as in others the best method of investigation is to study things in the process of development
from the beginning.

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The first coupling together of persons then to which necessity gives rise is that between those
who are unable to exist without one another: for instance the union of female and male for the
continuance of the species (and this not of deliberate purpose, but with man as with the other animals
and with plants there is a natural instinct to desire to leave behind one another being of the same sort
as oneself); and the union of natural ruler and natural subject for the sake of security (for he that can
foresee with his mind is naturally ruler and naturally master, and he that can do these things with his
body is subject and naturally a slave; so that master and slave have the same interest).

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[1252b] [1] Thus the female and the slave are by nature distinct (for nature makes nothing as
the cutlers make the Delphic knife, in a niggardly way, but one thing for one purpose; for so each tool
will be turned out in the finest perfection, if it serves not many uses but one). Yet among barbarians the
female and the slave have the same rank; and the cause of this is that barbarians have no class of natural
rulers, but with them the conjugal partnership is a partnership of female slave and male slave. Hence the
saying of the poets5 'Tis meet that Greeks should rule barbarians, implying that barbarian and
slave are the same in nature. From these two partnerships then is first composed the household, and
Hesiod was right when he wrote First and foremost a house and a wife and an ox for the ploughing
for the ox serves instead of a servant for the poor.

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. Hom. Od. 9.114

The partnership therefore that comes about in the course of nature for everyday purposes is the
house, the persons whom Charondas7 speaks of as meal-tub-fellows and the Cretan Epimenides8 as
manger-fellows.9 On the other hand the primary partnership made up of several households for the
satisfaction of not mere daily needs is the village. The village according to the most natural account
seems to be a colony from a household, formed of those whom some people speak of as fellow-
sucklings, sons and sons' sons.11 It is owing to this that our cities were at first under royal sway and that
foreign races are so still, [20] because they were made up of parts that were under royal rule; for every
household is under the royal rule of its eldest member, so that the colonies from the household were so
too, because of the kinship of their members. And this is what Homer12 means: And each one giveth
law To sons and eke to spouses

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for his Cyclopes live in scattered families; and that is the way in which people used to live in
early times. Also this explains why all races speak of the gods as ruled by a king, because they
themselves too are some of them actually now so ruled and in other cases used to be of old; and as men
imagine the gods in human form, so also they suppose their manner of life to be like their own. The
partnership finally composed of several villages is the city-state; it has at last attained the limit of
virtually complete self-sufficiency, and thus, while it comes into existence for the sake of life, it exists for
the good life. Hence every city-state exists by nature, inasmuch as the first partnerships so exist; for the
city-state is the end of the other partnerships, and nature is an end, since that which each thing is when
its growth is completed we speak of as being the nature of each thing, for instance of a man, a horse, a
household.

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 Again, the object for which a thing exists, its end, is its chief good; [1253a] [1] and self-
sufficiency is an end, and a chief good. From these things therefore it is clear that the city-state is a
natural growth, and that man is by nature a political animal, and a man that is by nature and not merely
by fortune citiless is either low in the scale of humanity or above it (like the clanless, lawless,
hearthless man reviled by Homer,13 for one by nature unsocial is also a lover of war) inasmuch as he
is solitary, like an isolated piece at draughts. And why man is a political animal in a greater measure than
any bee or any gregarious animal is clear.

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For nature, as we declare, does nothing without purpose; and man alone of the animals
possesses speech. The mere voice, it is true, can indicate pain and pleasure, and therefore is possessed
by the other animals as well (for their nature has been developed so far as to have sensations of what is
painful and pleasant and to indicate those sensations to one another), but speech is designed to indicate
the advantageous and the harmful, and therefore also the right and the wrong; for it is the special
property of man in distinction from the other animals that he alone has perception of good and bad and
right and wrong and the other moral qualities, and it is partnership in these things that makes a
household and a city-state.

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Thus also the city-state is prior in nature to the household and to each of us individually. [20]
For the whole must necessarily be prior to the part; since when the whole body is destroyed, foot or
hand will not exist except in an equivocal sense, like the sense in which one speaks of a hand sculptured
in stone as a hand; because a hand in those circumstances will be a hand spoiled, and all things are
defined by their function and capacity, so that when they are no longer such as to perform their function
they must not be said to be the same things, but to bear their names in an equivocal sense. It is clear
therefore that the state is also prior by nature to the individual; for if each individual when separate is
not self-sufficient, he must be related to the whole state as other parts are to their whole, while a man
who is incapable of entering into partnership, or who is so self-sufficing that he has no need to do so, is
no part of a state, so that he must be either a lower animal or a god.
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Therefore the impulse to form a partnership of this kind is present in all men by nature; but the
man who first united people in such a partnership was the greatest of benefactors. For as man is the
best of the animals when perfected, so he is the worst of all when sundered from law and justice. For
unrighteousness is most pernicious when possessed of weapons, and man is born possessing weapons
for the use of wisdom and virtue, which it is possible to employ entirely for the opposite ends. Hence
when devoid of virtue man is the most unholy and savage of animals, and the worst in regard to sexual
indulgence and gluttony. Justice on the other hand is an element of the state; for judicial procedure,
which means the decision of what is just, is the regulation of the political partnership.

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[1253b] [1] And now that it is clear what are the component parts of the state, we have first of
all to discuss household management; for every state is composed of households. Household
management falls into departments corresponding to the parts of which the household in its turn is
composed; and the household in its perfect form consists of slaves and freemen. The investigation of
everything should begin with its smallest parts, and the primary and smallest parts of the household are
master and slave, husband and wife, father and children; we ought therefore to examine the proper
constitution and character of each of these three relationships, I mean that of mastership, that of
marriage (there is no exact term denoting the relation uniting wife and husband), and thirdly the
progenitive relationship (this too has not been designated by a special name).

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Let us then accept these three relationships that we have mentioned. There is also a
department which some people consider the same as household management and others the most
important part of it, and the true position of which we shall have to consider: I mean what is called the
art of getting wealth.15 Let us begin by discussing the relation of master and slave, in order to observe
the facts that have a bearing on practical utility, and also in the hope that we may be able to obtain
something better than the notions at present entertained, with a view to a theoretic knowledge of the
subject. For some thinkers hold the function of the master to be a definite science, and moreover think
that household management, mastership, statesmanship and monarchy are the same thing, [20] as we
said at the beginning of the treatise; others however maintain that for one man to be another man's
master is contrary to nature, because it is only convention that makes the one a slave and the other a
freeman and there is no difference between them by nature, and that therefore it is unjust, for it is
based on force.

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Since therefore property is a part of a household and the art of acquiring property a part of
household management (for without the necessaries even life, as well as the good life,16 is impossible),
and since, just as for the particular arts it would be necessary for the proper tools to be forthcoming if
their work is to be accomplished, so also the manager of a household must have his tools, and of tools
some are lifeless and others living (for example, for a helmsman the rudder is a lifeless tool and the
look-out man a live toolfor an assistant in the arts belongs to the class of tools), so also an article of
property is a tool for the purpose of life, and property generally is a collection of tools, and a slave is a
live article of property. And every assistant is as it were a tool that serves for several tools;

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for if every tool could perform its own work when ordered, or by seeing what to do in advance,
like the statues of Daedalus in the story,17 or the tripods of Hephaestus which the poet says enter self-
moved the company divine,18if thus shuttles wove and quills played harps of themselves, master-
craftsmen would have no need of assistants and masters no need of slaves. [1254a] [1] Now the tools
mentioned are instruments of production, whereas an article of property is an instrument of action19;
for from a shuttle we get something else beside the mere use of the shuttle, but from a garment or a bed
we get only their use.

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And also inasmuch as there is a difference in kind between production and action, and both
need tools, it follows that those tools also must possess the same difference. But life is doing things, not
making things; hence the slave is an assistant in the class of instruments of action. And the term article
of property is used in the same way as the term part: a thing that is a part is not only a part of another
thing but absolutely belongs to another thing, and so also does an article of property. Hence whereas
the master is merely the slave's master and does not belong to the slave, the slave is not merely the
slave of the master but wholly belongs to the master.

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These considerations therefore make clear the nature of the slave and his essential quality: one
who is a human being belonging by nature not to himself but to another is by nature a slave, and a
person is a human being belonging to another if being a man he is an article of property, and an article
of property is an instrument for action separable from its owner. But we must next consider whether or
not anyone exists who is by nature of this character, and whether it is advantageous and just for anyone
to be a slave, or whether on the contrary all slavery is against nature. [20] And it is not difficult either to
discern the answer by theory or to learn it empirically. Authority and subordination are conditions not
only inevitable but also expedient; in some cases things are marked out from the moment of birth to
rule or to be ruled.

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And there are many varieties both of rulers and of subjects (and the higher the type of the
subjects, the loftier is the nature of the authority exercised over them, for example to control a human
being is a higher thing than to tame a wild beast; for the higher the type of the parties to the
performance of a function, the higher is the function, and when one party rules and another is ruled,
there is a function performed between them)because in every composite thing, where a plurality of
parts, whether continuous or discrete, is combined to make a single common whole, there is always
found a ruling and a subject factor, and this characteristic of living things is present in them as an
outcome of the whole of nature, since even in things that do not partake of life there is a ruling principle,
as in the case of a musical scale.

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20 However, this matter perhaps belongs to an investigation lying somewhat outside our
subject; but an animal consists primarily of soul and body, of which the former is by nature the ruling
and the latter the subject factor. And to discover what is natural we must study it preferably in things
that are in a natural state, and not in specimens that are degenerate. Hence in studying man we must
consider a man that is in the best possible condition in regard to both body and soul, and in him the
principle stated will clearly appear, [1254b] [1] since in those that are bad or in a bad condition it
might be thought that the body often rules the soul because of its vicious and unnatural condition.

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But to resumeit is in a living creature, as we say, that it is first possible to discern the rule both
of master and of statesman the soul rules the body with the sway of a master, the intelligence rules the
appetites with that of a statesman or a king and in these examples it is manifest that it is natural and
expedient for the body to be governed by the soul and for the emotional part to be governed by the
intellect, the part possessing reason, whereas for the two parties to be on an equal footing or in the
contrary positions is harmful in all cases. Again, the same holds good between man and the other
animals: tame animals are superior in their nature to wild animals, yet for all the former it is
advantageous to be ruled by man, since this gives them security.
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Again, as between the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male
ruler and the female subject. And the same must also necessarily apply in the case of mankind as a
whole; therefore all men that differ as widely as the soul does from the body and the human being from
the lower animal (and this is the condition of those whose function is the use of the body and from
whom this is the best that is forthcoming) these are by nature slaves, for whom to be governed by this
kind of authority [20] is advantageous, inasmuch as it is advantageous to the subject things already
mentioned. For he is by nature a slave who is capable of belonging to another (and that is why he does
so belong), and who participates in reason so far as to apprehend it but not to possess it;

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for the animals other than man are subservient not to reason, by apprehending it, but to
feelings. And also the usefulness of slaves diverges little from that of animals; bodily service for the
necessities of life is forthcoming from both, from slaves and from domestic animals alike. The intention
of nature therefore is to make the bodies also of freemen and of slaves differentthe latter strong for
necessary service, the former erect and unserviceable for such occupations, but serviceable for a life of
citizenship (and that again divides into the employments of war and those of peace); but as a matter of
fact often the very opposite comes aboutsome persons have the bodies of free men and others the
souls;

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 since this is certainly clear, that if persons were born as distinguished only in body as are the
statues of the gods, everyone would say that those who were inferior deserved to be these men's slaves.
And if this is true in the case of the body, there is far juster reason for this rule being laid down in the
case of the soul; but beauty of soul is not so easy to see as beauty of body. [1255a] [1] It is manifest
therefore that there are cases of people of whom some are freemen and the others slaves by nature,
and for these slavery is an institution both expedient and just. But at the same time it is not difficult to
see that those who assert the opposite are also right in a manner. The fact is that the terms slavery and
slave are ambiguous;

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for there is also such a thing as a slave or a man that is in slavery by law, for the law is a sort of
agreement under which the things conquered in war are said to belong to their conquerors. Now this
conventional right is arraigned by many jurists just as a statesman is impeached for proposing an
unconstitutional measure; they say that it is monstrous if the person powerful enough to use force, and
superior in power, is to have the victim of his force as his slave and subject;

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and even among the learned some hold this view, though others hold the other. But the reason
of this dispute and what makes the theories overlap is the fact that in a certain manner virtue when it
obtains resources has in fact very great power to use force, and the stronger party always possesses
superiority in something that is good,21 so that it is thought that force cannot be devoid of goodness,
but that the dispute is merely about the justice of the matter (for it is due to the one party holding that
the justification of authority is good-will, while the other identifies justice with the mere rule of the
stronger);

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 because obviously if these theories be separated apart, [20] the other theories have no force or
plausibility at all, implying that the superior in goodness has no claim to rule and be master. But some
persons, simply clinging, as they think, to principle of justice (for the law is a principle of justice), assert
that the enslavement of prisoners of war is just; yet at the same time they deny the assertion, for there
is the possibility that wars may be unjust in their origin and one would by no means admit that a man
that does not deserve slavery can be really a slaveotherwise we shall have the result that persons
reputed of the highest nobility are slaves and the descendants of slaves if they happen to be taken
prisoners of war and sold.

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Therefore they do not mean to assert that Greeks themselves if taken prisoners are slaves, but
that barbarians are. Yet when they say this, they are merely seeking for the principles of natural slavery
of which we spoke at the outset; for they are compelled to say that there exist certain persons who are
essentially slaves everywhere and certain others who are so nowhere. And the same applies also about
nobility: our nobles consider themselves noble not only in their own country but everywhere, but they
think that barbarian noblemen are only noble in their own countrywhich implies that there are two
kinds of nobility and of freedom, one absolute and the other relative, as Helen says in Theodectes22:
But who would dare to call me menial, The scion of a twofold stock divine? Yet in so speaking they
make nothing but virtue and vice the distinction between slave and free, the noble and the base-born;

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[1255b] [1] for they assume that just as from a man springs a man and from brutes a brute, so
also from good parents comes a good son but as a matter of fact nature frequently while intending to do
this is unable to bring it about. It is clear therefore that there is some reason for this dispute, and that in
some instances it is not the case that one set are slaves and the other freemen by nature; and also that
in some instances such a distinction does exist, when slavery for the one and mastership for the other
are advantageous and just, and it is proper for the one party to be governed and for the other to govern
by the form of government for which they are by nature fitted, and therefore by the exercise of
mastership, while to govern badly is to govern disadvantageously for both parties (for the same thing is
advantageous for a part and for the whole body or the whole soul, and the slave is a part of the master
he is, as it were, a part of the body, alive but yet separated from it; hence there is a certain community
of interest and friendship between slave and master in cases when they have been qualified by nature
for those positions, although when they do not hold them in that way but by law and by constraint of
force the opposite is the case).

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And even from these considerations it is clear that the authority of a master over slaves is not
the same as the authority of a magistrate in a republic, nor are all forms of government the same, as
some assert. Republican government controls men who are by nature free, the master's authority men
who are by nature slaves; and the government of a household is monarchy (since every house is
governed by a single ruler), [20] whereas statesmanship is the government of men free and equal. The
term master therefore denotes the possession not of a certain branch of knowledge but of a certain
character, and similarly also the terms slave and freeman.

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Yet there might be a science of mastership and a slave's sciencethe latter being the sort of
knowledge that used to be imparted by the professor at Syracuse (for there used to be a man there who
for a fee gave lessons to servants in their ordinary duties); and indeed there might be more advanced
scientific study of such matters, for instance a science of cookery and the other such kinds of domestic
servicefor different servants have different functions, some more honorable and some more menial,
and as the proverb says, Slave before slave and master before master.

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 23 The slave's sciences then are all the various branches of domestic work; the master's
science is the science of employing slavesfor the master's function consists not in acquiring slaves but
in employing them. This science however is one of no particular importance or dignity: the master must
know how to direct the tasks which the slave must know how to execute. Therefore all people rich
enough to be able to avoid personal trouble have a steward who takes this office, while they themselves
engage in politics or philosophy. The science of acquiring slaves is different both from their ownership
and their directionthat is, the just acquiring of slaves, which is akin to the art of war or that of the
chase. Let this then stand as our definition of slave and master.

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[1256a] [1] But let us follow our normal method and investigate generally the nature of all kinds
of property and the art of getting wealth, inasmuch as we saw the slave to be one division of property.
In the first place therefore one might raise the question whether the art of getting wealth is the same as
that of household management, or a part of it, or subsidiary to it; and if subsidiary, whether it is so in
the sense in which the art of making shuttles is subsidiary to the art of weaving or in that in which the
art of casting bronze is subsidiary to the making of statues (for the two are not subsidiary in the same
way, but shuttle-making supplies tools whereas bronze-founding supplies materialand by material I
mean the substance out of which certain work is produced, for example fleeces are material for a
weaver and bronze for a statuary).

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Now it is clear that wealth-getting is not the same art as household management, for the
function of the former is to provide and that of the latter to usefor what will be the art that will use
the contents of the house if not the art of household management? but whether wealth-getting is a part
of the art of household management, or a different sort of science, is open to debate. For if it is the
function of the getter of wealth to study the source from which money and property are to be procured,

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 . . .24 But property and riches comprise many divisions; hence first of all is husbandry a division
of the household art, or is it a different kind of science? and so in general of the superintendence and
acquisition of articles of food. But furthermore, there are many sorts of food, [20] owing to which both
animals and men have many modes of life; for it is impossible to live without food, so that the
differences of food have made the lives of animals different.

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Among wild animals some are nomadic and others solitary, according to whichever habit is
advantageous for their supply of food, because some of them are carnivorous, others graminivorous,
and others eat all kinds of food; so that nature has differentiated their modes of life to suit their facilities
and their predilection for those articles of food. And as different kinds of animals by nature relish
different sorts of food, and not each kind the same, even within the classes of carnivorous and
graminivorous animals their modes of life differ from one another. And similarly in the human race also,
for there are wide differences of life among mankind.

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The idlest men are nomads (for to procure food from domesticated animals involves no toil or
industry, but as it is necessary for the herds to move from place to place because of the pastures, the
people themselves are forced to follow along with them, as though they were farming a live farm).
Other men live from hunting, and different people from different kinds of hunting, for instance some
from brigandage,25 others from fishingthese are those that dwell on the banks of lakes, marshes and
rivers or of a sea suitable for fishing,and others live on wild birds and animals. But the largest class of
men live from the land and the fruits of cultivation.

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 This then virtually completes the list of the various modes of life, those at least that have their
industry sprung from themselves and do not procure their food by barter and trade [1256b] [1] the
lives of the herdsman, the brigand, the fisherman, the hunter, the husband-man. Others also live
pleasantly by combining some of these pursuits, supplementing the more deficient life where it happens
to fall short in regard to being self-sufficing: for instance, some combine a pastoral life and brigandage,
others husbandry and hunting, and similarly with the othersthey pass their time in such a combination
of pursuits as their need compels.

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Property of this sort then seems to be bestowed by nature herself upon all, as immediately
upon their first coming into existence, so also when they have reached maturity. For even at the original
coming into existence of the young some kinds of animals bring forth with them at birth enough
sustenance to suffice until the offspring can provide for itself, for example all the species that bear their
young in the form of larvae or in eggs. The viviparous species have sustenance for their offspring inside
themselves for a certain period, the substance called milk.

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So that clearly we must suppose that nature also provides for them in a similar way when grown
up, and that plants exist for the sake of animals and the other animals for the good of man, the domestic
species both for his service and for his food, and if not all at all events most of the wild ones for the sake
of his food and of his supplies of other kinds, in order that [20] they may furnish him both with clothing
and with other appliances. If therefore nature makes nothing without purpose or in vain, it follows that
nature has made all the animals for the sake of men.

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Hence even the art of war will by nature be in a manner an art of acquisition (for the art of
hunting is a part of it) that is properly employed both against wild animals and against such of mankind
as though designed by nature for subjection refuse to submit to it, inasmuch as this warfare is by nature
just. One kind of acquisition therefore in the order of nature is a part of the household art,26 in
accordance with which either there must be forthcoming or else that art must procure to be
forthcoming a supply of those goods, capable of accumulation, which are necessary for life and useful
for the community of city or household.

.
,
. Solon 13.71
: [35]
,
.
, , .

And it is of these goods that riches in the true sense at all events seem to consist. For the
amount of such property sufficient in itself for a good life is not unlimited, as Solon 27 says that it is in
the verse But of riches no bound has been fixed or revealed to men; for a limit has been fixed, as with
the other arts, since no tool belonging to any art is without a limit whether in number or in size, and
riches are a collection of tools for the householder and the statesman. Therefore that there is a certain
art of acquisition belonging in the order of nature to householders and to statesmen, and for what
reason this is so, is clear.

[40] , ,
, , :
[1257]
: .
, [5] .
.
, ,
, .

But there is another kind of acquisition that is specially called wealth-getting, and that is so
called with justice and to this kind it is due that there is thought to be no limit to riches and property.
[1257a] [1] Owing to its affinity to the art of acquisition of which we spoke, it is supposed by many
people to be one and the same as that; and as a matter of fact, while it is not the same as the acquisition
spoken of, it is not far removed from it. One of them is natural, the other is not natural, but carried on
rather by means of a certain acquired skill or art. We may take our starting-point for its study from the
following consideration: with every article of property there is a double way of using it; both uses are
related to the article itself, but not related to it in the same mannerone is peculiar to the thing and the
other is not peculiar to it. Take for example a shoethere is its wear as a shoe and there is its use as an
article of exchange;

[10] :
,
: .
. [15] ,
,

 : , .
[20]
, .

for both are ways of using a shoe, inasmuch as even he that barters a shoe for money or food
with the customer that wants a shoe uses it as a shoe, though not for the use peculiar to a shoe, since
shoes have not come into existence for the purpose of barter. And the same also holds good about the
other articles of property; for all of them have an art of exchange related to them, which began in the
first instance from the natural order of things, because men had more than enough of some things and
less than enough of others. This consideration also shows that the art of trade is not by nature a part of
the art of wealth-getting28; for the practice of barter was necessary only so far as to satisfy men's own
needs. In the primary [20] association therefore (I mean the household) there is no function for trade,
but it only arises after the association has become more numerous.

,
, ,
[25] , .
, ,
, .
[30]
:
.

For the members of the primitive household used to share commodities that were all their own,
whereas on the contrary a group divided into several households participated also in a number of
commodities belonging to their neighbors, according to their needs for which they were forced to make
their interchanges by way of barter, as also many barbarian tribes do still; for such tribes do not go
beyond exchanging actual commodities for actual commodities, for example giving and taking wine for
corn, and so with the various other things of the sort. Exchange on these lines therefore is not contrary
to nature, nor is it any branch of the art of wealth-getting, for it existed for the replenishment of natural
self-sufficiency; yet out of it the art of business in due course arose.

, .
[35] :
,
,
, ,
[40] ,
: .

For when they had come to supply themselves more from abroad by importing things in which
they were deficient and exporting those of which they had a surplus, the employment of money
necessarily came to be devised. For the natural necessaries are not in every case readily portable; hence
for the purpose of barter men made a mutual compact to give and accept some substance of such a sort
as being itself a useful commodity was easy to handle in use for general life, iron for instance, silver and
other metals, at the first stage defined merely by size and weight, but finally also by impressing on it a
stamp in order that this might relieve them of having to measure it; for the stamp was put on as a token
of the amount.

[1257]
, ,
, ,
[5] .
,
, .
,
[10] .

[1257b] [1] So when currency had been now invented as an outcome of the necessary
interchange of goods, there came into existence the other form of wealth-getting, trade, which at first no
doubt went on in a simple form, but later became more highly organized as experience discovered the
sources and methods of exchange that would cause most profit. Hence arises the idea that the art of
wealth-getting deals specially with money, and that its function is to be able to discern from what source
a large supply can be procured, as this art is supposed to be creative of riches and wealth; indeed riches
are often assumed to consist of a quantity of money, because money is the thing with which the art of
business and of trade deals.

,
,
,
: [15]
,
.
, .
[20] , ,
, .

But at other times, on the contrary, it is thought that money is nonsense, and nothing by nature
but entirely a convention, because when those who use it have changed the currency it is worth nothing,
and because it is of no use for any of the necessary needs of life and a man well supplied with money
may often29 be destitute of the bare necessities of subsistence, yet it is anomalous that wealth should
be of such a kind that a man may be well supplied with it and yet die of hunger, like the famous Midas in
the legend, when owing to the insatiable covetousness of his prayer all the viands served up to him
turned into gold. Hence people seek for a different definition of riches and the art of getting wealth, and
rightly; for natural wealth-getting and natural riches are different: [20] natural wealth-getting belongs to
household management, whereas the other kind belongs to trade, producing goods not in every way but
only by the method of exchanging goods.

:
. ,
. [25] ,
,
 ,
, [30]
. :
.

It is this art of wealth-getting that is thought to be concerned with money, for money is the first
principle and limit of commerce. And these riches, that are derived from this art of wealth-getting, are
truly unlimited30; for just as the art of medicine is without limit in respect of health, and each of the arts
is without limit in respect of its end (for they desire to produce that in the highest degree possible),
whereas they are not without limit as regards the means to their end (for with all of them the end is a
limit to the means), so also this wealth-getting has no limit in respect of its end, and its end is riches and
the acquisition of goods in the commercial sense. But the household branch of wealth-getting has a
limit, since the acquisition of commercial riches is not the function of household management.

,
:
. [35] .
.
, , , .
,
[40] .

Hence from this point of view it appears necessary that there should be a limit to all riches, yet
in actual fact we observe that the opposite takes place; for all men engaged in wealth-getting try to
increase their money to an unlimited amount. The reason of this is the close affinity of the two branches
of the art of business. Their common ground is that the thing that each makes use of is the same; they
use the same property, although not in the same waythe one has another end in view, the aim of the
other is the increase of the property. Consequently some people suppose that it is the function of
household management to increase property, and they are continually under the idea that it is their duty
to be either safeguarding their substance in money or increasing it to an unlimited amount.

,
: [1258] ,
.
,
, [5] ,
. ,
:
, , [10]
. ,
, .
, , .

The cause of this state of mind is that their interests are set upon life but not upon the good
life; [1258a] [1] as therefore the desire for life is unlimited, they also desire without limit the means
productive of life. And even those who fix their aim on the good life seek the good life as measured by
bodily enjoyments, so that inasmuch as this also seems to be found in the possession of property, all
their energies are occupied in the business of getting wealth; and owing to this the second kind of the
art of wealth-getting has arisen. For as their enjoyment is in excess, they try to discover the art that is
productive of enjoyable excess; and if they cannot procure it by the art of wealth-getting, they try to do
so by some other means, employing each of the faculties in an unnatural way. For it is not the function
of courage to produce wealth, but to inspire daring; nor is it the function of the military art nor of the
medical art, but it belongs to the former to bring victory and to the latter to cause health. Yet these
people make all these faculties means for the business of providing wealth, in the belief that wealth is
the end and that everything must be directed to the end.

[15] , ,
, , ,
,
. , [20]
,
,
,
, , [25] .

We have therefore discussed both the unnecessary branch of wealth-getting, defining it and
also explaining the cause why we require it, and the necessary branch, showing that this branch which
has to do with food is different from the unnecessary branch and is by nature a part of household
management, not being like that branch unlimited but having a limit. And we can also see the answer to
the question raised at the beginning, whether [20] the art of wealth-getting belongs to the householder
and the statesman, or whether on the contrary supplies ought to be provided already (for just as
statesmanship does not create human beings but having received them from nature makes use of them,
so also it is necessary for nature to bestow food by bestowing land or sea or something else), and the
task of the householder is, starting with these supplies given, to dispose of them in the proper way.

, ,
, .
, :
[30] , .
,
, , ,
, : , ,
[35] .

For it does not belong to the art of weaving to make fleeces, but to use them, and also to know
what sort of fleece is good and suitable or bad and unsuitable. In fact the question might be raised, why
the getting of wealth is a part of the household art whereas the art of medicine is not a part of it,
although the members of the household ought to be healthy, just as they must be alive or fulfil any of
the other essential conditions. But inasmuch as although in a way it does belong to the householder and
the ruler to see even to health, yet in a way it does not belong to them but to the physician, so also with
regard to wealth, although in a way it is the affair of the house-holder, in a way it is not, but is a matter
for the subsidiary art. But best of all, as has been said before, this provision ought to be made in
advance by nature.
 : ,
, .
. , ,
, [40] ,
[1258]
,
.

For it is the work of nature to supply nourishment for her offspring, since every creature has for
nourishment the residue of the substance from which it springs. Hence the business of drawing
provision from the fruits of the soil and from animals is natural to all. But, as we said, this art is twofold,
one branch being of the nature of trade while the other belongs to the household art; and the latter
branch is necessary and in good esteem, but the branch connected with exchange is justly discredited
[1258b] [1] (for it is not in accordance with nature, but involves men's taking things from one another).
As this is so, usury is most reasonably hated, because its gain comes from money itself and not from that
for the sake of which money was invented.

, [5]
: ,
:
. , [10]
. ,
.

For money was brought into existence for the purpose of exchange, but interest increases the
amount of the money itself (and this is the actual origin of the Greek word: offspring resembles parent,
and interest is money born of money); consequently this form of the business of getting wealth is of all
forms the most contrary to nature. And since we have adequately defined the scientific side of the
subject, we ought to discuss it from the point of view of practice; although, whereas the theory of such
matters is a liberal study, the practical pursuit of them is narrowing.

: ,
,
, [15]
, :
, ,
, , ,
[20] .

The practically useful branches of the art of wealth-getting are first, an expert knowledge of
stock, what breeds are most profitable and in what localities and under what conditions, for instance
what particular stock in horses or cattle or sheep, and similarly of the other animals also (for the farmer
must be an expert as to which of these animals are most profitable compared with one another, and also
as to what breeds are most profitable on what sorts of land, since different breeds flourish in different
places); secondly, the subject of agriculture, and this again is divided into corn-growing and fruit-
farming; also bee-keeping, and the breeding of the other creatures finned and feathered [20] which can
be used to furnish supplies.
 :
,
:
, , [25] ,
,
:
,
[30] , ,
.

These then are the branches and primary parts of wealth-getting in the most proper sense. Of
the kind that deals with exchange, the largest branch is commerce (which has three departments, ship-
owning, transport and marketing: these departments differ from each other in the fact that some are
safer and others carry larger profits); the second branch is money-lending, and the third labor for hire,
one department of which is that of the mechanic arts and the other that of unskilled laborers who are
useful only for bodily service. And there is a third form of wealth-getting that lies between the latter and
the one placed first, since it possesses mediate an element both of natural wealth-getting and of the sort
that employs exchange; it deals with all the commodities that are obtained from the earth and from
those fruitless but useful things that come from the earthexamples are the felling of timber and all
sorts of mining;

:
.
, [35] ,
,
. ,
,
.

and of mining itself there are many classes, since there are many sorts of metals obtained out of
the earth. The35 most scientific of these industries are those which involve the smallest element of
chance, the most mechanic those in which the operatives undergo the greatest amount of bodily
degradation, the most servile those in which the most uses are made of the body, and the most ignoble
those in which there is the least requirement of virtue as an accessory. But while we have even now
given a general description of these various branches, yet a detailed and particular account of them,
though useful for the practice of the industries, would be illiberal as a subject of prolonged study.

[40] ,
[1259] ,
, :
, , [5]
. ,
: ,
, .
 There are books on these subjects by certain authors, for example Charetides of Paros [1259a]
[1] and Apollodorus37 of Lemnos have written about both agriculture and fruit-farming, and similarly
others also on other topics, so these subjects may be studied from these authors by anybody concerned
to do so; but in addition a collection ought also to be made of the scattered accounts of methods that
have brought success in business to certain individuals. All these methods are serviceable for those who
value wealth-getting, for example the plan of Thales of Miletus, which is a device for the business of
getting wealth, but which, though it is attributed to him because of his wisdom, is really of universal
application.

[10]
, ,

,
: [15] , ,
,
, ,
.

Thales, so the story goes, because of his poverty was taunted with the uselessness of
philosophy; but from his knowledge of astronomy he had observed while it was still winter that there
was going to be a large crop of olives, so he raised a small sum of money and paid round deposits for the
whole of the olive-presses in Miletus and Chios, which he hired at a low rent as nobody was running him
up; and when the season arrived, there was a sudden demand for a number of presses at the same time,
and by letting them out on what terms he liked he realized a large sum of money, so proving that it is
easy for philosophers to be rich if they choose, but this is not what they care about.

: , [20] , ,
.
, :
.
[25] ,
, , :
.

Thales then is reported to have thus displayed his wisdom, but as [20] a matter of fact this
device of taking an opportunity to secure a monopoly is a universal principle of business; hence even
some states have recourse to this plan as a method of raising revenue when short of funds: they
introduce a monopoly of marketable goods. There was a man in Sicily who used a sum of money
deposited with him to buy up all the iron from the iron mines, and afterwards when the dealers came
from the trading-centers he was the only seller, though he did not greatly raise the price, but all the
same he made a profit of a hundred talents40 on his capital of fifty.

, [30] ,
:
: .
 .
[35] , , :
.

When Dionysius41 came to know of it he ordered the man to take his money with him but clear
out of Syracuse on the spot,42 since he was inventing means of profit detrimental to the tyrant's own
affairs. Yet really this device is the same as the discovery of Thales, for both men alike contrived to
secure themselves a monopoly. An acquaintance with these devices is also serviceable for statesmen, for
many states need financial aid and modes of revenue like those described, just as a household may, but
in greater degree; hence some statesmen even devote their political activity exclusively to finance.

, ,
, , ,
[40] , ,
:

And since, as we saw,43 the science of household management has three divisions, one the
relation of master to slave, of which we have spoken before,44 one the paternal relation, and the third
the conjugal45for it is a part of the household science to rule over wife and children (over both as over
freemen, yet not with the same mode of government, but over the wife to exercise republican
government and over the children monarchical);

[1259] ,
,
[5]

, , ,
,
: [10] .

[1259b] [1] for the male is by nature better fitted to command than the female (except in some
cases where their union has been formed contrary to nature) and the older and fully developed person
than the younger and immature. It is true that in most cases of republican government the ruler and the
ruled interchange in turn (for they tend to be on in equal level in their nature and to have no difference
at all), although nevertheless during the period when one is ruler and the other ruled they seek to have
a distinction by means of insignia and titles and honors, just as Amasis made his speech about the foot-
bath46; but the male stands in this relationship to the female continuously.

:
, .
Hom. Il. 1.544
. [15] ,
:
.

The rule of the father over the children on the other hand is that of a king; for the male parent
is the ruler in virtue both of affection and of seniority, which is characteristic of royal government (and
therefore Homer finely designated Zeus by the words father of men and gods, as the king of them
all). For though in nature the king must be superior, in race he should be the same as his subjects, and
this is the position of the elder in relation to the younger and of the father in relation to the child.

, [20]
, , .
,
,
[25] ,
: ,
; ,
.

It is clear then that household management takes more interest in the human members of the
household than in its inanimate property, and [20] in the excellence of these than in that of its property,
which we style riches, and more in that of its free members than in that of slaves. First of all then as to
slaves the difficulty might be raised, does a slave possess any other excellence, besides his merits as a
tool and a servant, more valuable than these, for instance temperance, have the courage, justice and
any of the other moral virtues, or has he no excellence beside his bodily service? For either way there is
difficulty; if slaves do possess moral virtue, wherein will they differ from freemen? or if they do not, this
is strange, as they are human beings and participate in reason.

, [30]
,
, , ;
,
. , [35]
;
: ,
.

And nearly the same is the question also raised about the woman and the child: have they too
virtues, and ought a woman to be temperate, brave and just, and can a child be intemperate or
temperate, or not? This point therefore requires general consideration in relation to natural ruler and
subject: is virtue the same for ruler and ruled, or different? If it is proper for both to partake in nobility of
character, how could it be proper for the one to rule and the other to be ruled unconditionally? we
cannot say that the difference is to be one of degree, for ruling and being ruled differ in kind, and
difference of degree is not a difference in kind at all.

, .
, [40] ; , ;
[1260] .
, ,
. [5]
: ,
, .

Whereas if on the contrary it is proper for the one to have moral nobility but not for the other,
this is surprising. For if the ruler is not temperate and just, how will he rule well? And if the ruled, how
will he obey well? [1260a] [1] If intemperate and cowardly he will not perform any of the duties of his
position. It is evident therefore that both must possess virtue, but that there are differences in their
virtue (as also there are differences between those who are by nature ruled).48 And of this we
straightway find an indication in connection with the soul; for the soul by nature contains a part that
rules and a part that is ruled, to which we assign different virtues, that is, the virtue of the rational and
that of the irrational.

,
. [10]
,
, .
, , , , .

It is clear then that the case is the same also with the other instances of ruler and ruled. Hence
there are by nature various classes of rulers and ruled. For the free rules the slave, the male the female,
and the man the child in a different way. And all possess the various parts of the soul, but possess them
in different ways; for the slave has not got the deliberative part at all, and the female has it, but without
full authority, while the child has it, but in an undeveloped form.

[15]
, ,
.
, , [20]
, .
, ,
, ,
, .

Hence the ruler must possess intellectual virtue in completeness (for any work, taken
absolutely, belongs to the master-craftsman, and rational principle is a master-craftsman); while each of
the other parties must have that share of this virtue which is appropriate to them. We must suppose
therefore that the same necessarily holds good of the moral virtues: all must partake of them, but not in
the same way, but in such measure as is proper to each in relation to his own function. [20] Hence it is
manifest that all the persons mentioned have a moral virtue of their own, and that the temperance of a
woman and that of a man are not the same, nor their courage and justice, as Socrates thought, but the
one is the courage of command, and the other that of subordination, and the case is similar with the
other virtues.

[25] :
, ,
: ,
, . ,
, [30] : ,
Soph. Aj. 293 . ,
[32] ,
: .

And this is also clear when we examine the matter more in detail, for it is misleading to give a
general definition of virtue, as some do, who say that virtue is being in good condition as regards the
soul or acting uprightly or the like; those who enumerate the virtues of different persons separately, as
Gorgias does,51 are much more correct than those who define virtue in that way. Hence we must hold
that all of these persons have their appropriate virtues, as the poet said of woman: Silence gives grace
to woman though that is not the case likewise with a man. Also the child is not completely
developed, so that manifestly his virtue also is not personal to himself, but relative to the fully developed
being, that is, the person in authority over him. And similarly the slave's virtue also is in relation to the
master.

,
,
. , ,
: .
; [40] , ,
: [1260]
, ,
, .

And we laid it down that the slave is serviceable for the mere necessaries of life, so that clearly
he needs only a small amount of virtue, in fact just enough to prevent him from failing in his tasks owing
to intemperance and cowardice. (But the question might be raised, supposing that what has just been
said is true, will artisans also need to have virtue? for they frequently fall short in their tasks owing to
intemperance. Or is their case entirely different? For the slave is a partner in his master's life, but the
artisan is more remote, and only so much of virtue falls to his share as of slavery [1260b] [1] for the
mechanic artisan is under a sort of limited slavery, and whereas the slave is one of the natural classes,
no shoemaker or other craftsman belongs to his trade by nature.)

, [5] .

: .
: ,
, [10]
, ,
, .

It is manifest therefore that the master ought to be the cause to the slave of the virtue proper
to a slave, but not as possessing that art of mastership which teaches a slave his tasks. Hence those
persons are mistaken who deprive the slave of reasoning and tell us to use command only; for
admonition is more properly employed with slaves than with children. But on these subjects let us
conclude our decisions in this manner; while the question of the virtue severally belonging to man and
woman and children and father, and of the right and wrong mode of conducting their mutual intercourse
and the proper way of pursuing the good mode and avoiding the bad one, are matters that it will be
necessary to follow up in the part of our treatise dealing with the various forms of constitution.54

, ,
[15] ,
,

. :
, [20] . ,
, ,
, ,
.

For since every household is part of a state, and these relationships are part of the household,
and the excellence of the part must have regard to that of the whole, it is necessary that the education
both of the children and of the women should be carried on with a regard to the form of the
constitution, if it makes any difference as regards the goodness of the state for the children and the
women to be good. And it must necessarily make a difference; for the women are a half of the free
population, and the children [20] grow up to be the partners in the government of the state. So that as
these questions have been decided, and those that remain must be discussed elsewhere, let us
relinquish the present subjects as completed, and make a fresh start in our discourse, and first let us
consider those thinkers who have advanced views about the Ideal State.

[1260] [27]
, ,
, [30]
,
, ,
,
[35] ,
.

[1260b] [27] And since we take for our special consideration the study of the form of political
community that is the best of all the forms for a people able to pursue the most ideal mode of life, we
must also examine the other constitutions actually employed by certain of the states said to be well
governed, as well as any others propounded by certain thinkers and reputed to be of merit, in order that
we may discern what there is in them that is right and expedient, and also in order that it may not be
thought that to seek for something different from them springs entirely from a desire to display
ingenuity, but that we may be thought to enter upon this inquiry because these forms of constitution
that already exist are not satisfactory. We must first adopt as a starting-point that which is the natural
point of departure for this inquiry.

.
, ,
. [40]
, :
 , : [1261]
,
, ;

There are three possible systems of property: either all the citizens must own everything in
common, or they must own nothing in common, or some things must be common property and others
not. To have nothing in common is clearly impossible for the state is essentially a form of community,
and to begin with there is bound to be a common locality: a single city occupies a single site, and the
single city belongs to its citizens in common. [1261a] [1] But is it better for a city that is to be well
ordered to have community in everything which can possibly be made common property, or is it better
to have some things in common and others not?

[5]
, :
.
, ; [10]
,
,
.

For example, it is possible for the citizens to have children, wives and possessions in common
with each other, as in Plato's Republic, in which Socrates says that there must be community of children,
women and possessions. Well then, which is preferable, the system that now obtains, or one conforming
with the regulation described in the Republic1? Now for all the citizens to have their wives in common
involves a variety of difficulties; in particular,2 (1) the object which Socrates advances as the reason why
this enactment should be made clearly does not follow from his arguments;

, , ,
, , . [15]
:
.
: ,
[20] :
, : ,
: .

also (2) as a means to the end which he asserts should be the fundamental object of the city,
the scheme as actually set forth in the dialogue is not practicable; yet (3) how it is to be further worked
out has been nowhere definitely stated. I refer to the ideal of the fullest possible unity of the entire
state, which Socrates takes as his fundamental principle. Yet it is clear that if the process of unification
advances beyond a certain point, the city will not be a city at all for a state essentially consists of a
multitude of persons, and if its unification is carried beyond a certain point, city will be reduced to family
and family to individual, [20] for we should pronounce the family to be a more complete unity than the
city, and the single person than the family; so that even if any lawgiver were able to unify the state, he
must not do so, for he will destroy it in the process.
 ,
. . [25] :
,
, ,
, [30]
, .

And not only does a city consist of a multitude of human beings, it consists of human beings
differing in kind. A collection of persons all alike does not constitute a state. For a city is not the same
thing as a league; a league is of value by its quantity, even though it is art the same in kind (since the
essential object of the league is military strength), just as a weight would be worth more if it weighed
more, whereas3 components which are to make up a unity must differ in kind (and it is by this
characteristic that a city will also surpass a tribe of which the population is not scattered among villages
but organized like the Arcadians).

,
: :
,
. [35] ,

.
, , ,
, [1261] ,
.

Hence reciprocal equality is the preservative of states, as has been said before in the Ethics. For
even among the free and equal this principle must necessarily obtain, since all cannot govern at once:
they must hold office for a year at a time or by some other arrangement or period; and in this manner it
does actually come about that all govern, just as all shoemakers would be also carpenters if the
shoemakers and the carpenters kept on changing trades instead of the same persons being shoemakers
and carpenters always. But since such permanence of function is better for the political community also,
it is clear that it is better for the same persons to govern always, if possible; and among peoples where it
is impossible because all the citizens are equal in their nature, [1261b] [1] yet at the same time it is only
just, whether governing is a good thing or a bad,

,
: [5]
.
.
,
: .

that all should partake in it, and for equals thus to submit to authority in turn imitates their
being originally dissimilar; for some govern and others are governed by turn, as though becoming other
persons; and also similarly when they hold office the holders of different offices are different persons. It
is clear then from these considerations that it is not an outcome of nature for the state to be a unity in
the manner in which certain persons say that it is, and that what has been said to be the greatest good in
states really destroys states; yet surely a thing's particular good acts as its preservative.

[10]
. , ,

: , [15]
. ,
, ,
:
[20] .

Another line of consideration also shows that to seek to unify the state excessively is not
beneficial. In point of self-sufficiency the individual is surpassed by the family and the family by the state,
and in principle a state is fully realized only when it comes to pass that the community of numbers is
self-sufficing; if therefore the more self-sufficing a community is, the more desirable is its condition, then
a less degree of unity is more desirable than a greater. Again, even granting that it is best for the
community to be as complete a unity as possible, complete unity does not seem to be proved by the
formula if all the citizens say Mine and Not mine at the same time, which Socrates6 thinks to be a
sign of the [20] city's being completely one.

. ,

, :
[25] ,
, , ,
. ,
, ,
[30] :
, :
.

All is an ambiguous term. If it means each severally, very likely this would more fully realize
the state of things which Socrates wishes to produce (for in that case every citizen will call the same boy
his son and also the same woman his wife, and will speak in the same way of property and indeed of
each of the accessories of life) but ex hypothesi the citizens, having community of women and children,
will not call them theirs in this sense, but will mean theirs collectively and not severally, and similarly
they will call property theirs meaning the property of them all, not of each of them severally. We see
then that the phrase all say is equivocal (in fact the words all, both, odd, even, owing to their
ambiguity, occasion argumentative quibbling even in philosophical discussions); hence really for all to
say the same thing is in one sense admirable, although impracticable, but in another sense is not at all a
sign of concord. And furthermore, the proposal has another disadvantage.

:
, [35] , :
,

. , ,
[40] :
.

Property that is common to the greatest number of owners receives the least attention; men
care most for their private possessions, and for what they own in common less, or only so far as it falls
to their own individual share for in addition to the other reasons, they think less of it on the ground that
someone else is thinking about it, just as in household service a large number of domestics sometimes
give worse attendance than a smaller number. And it results in each citizen's having a thousand sons,
and these do not belong to them as individuals but any child is equally the son of anyone, so that all alike
will regard them with indifference.

[1262]
, , ,
, [5] ,
: .
,
, ;
[10] , ,

, . ++

[1262a] [1] Again, each speaks of one of his fellow-citizens who is prospering or getting on
badly as my son only in the sense of the fractional part which he forms of the whole numberthat is,
he says my son or so-and-so's son, specifying as the father any individual of the thousand citizens or
whatever the number be of which the state consists, and even this dubiously, for it is uncertain who has
chanced to have had a son born to him and when born safely reared. Yet which is the better way to use
the word minethis way, each of two thousand or ten thousand people applying it to the same thing,
or rather the way in which they say mine in the actual states now? for the same person is called my
son by one man and my brother by another, and another calls him nephew, or by some other
relationship, whether of blood or by affinity and marriage, the speaker's own in the first place, or that of
his relations; and in addition someone else calls him fellow-clansman or fellow-tribesman. For it is
better for a boy to be one's own private nephew than one's son in the way described. Moreover it would
also be impossible to avoid men's supposing certain persons to be their real brothers and sons and
fathers and mothers; for they would be bound to form their belief about each other by the resemblances
which occur between children and parents. This indeed is said by some of those who write of travels
round the world7 actually to occur; [20] they say that some of the people of Upper Libya have their
wives in common, yet the children born are divided among them according to their personal
resemblances. And there are some females both of the human race and of the other animals, for
instance horses and cattle, who have a strong natural tendency to produce off-spring resembling the
male parents, as was the case with the mare at Pharsalus named Honest Lady.8 Moreover it is not easy
for those who institute this communism to guard against such objectionable occurrences as outrage,
involuntary and in some cases voluntary homicide, fights, abusive language; all of which are violations of
piety when committed against fathers, mothers and near relatives as if they were not relatives; but these
are bound to occur more frequently when people do not know their relations than when they do, and
also, when they do occur, if the offenders know their relationship it is possible for them to have the
customary expiations performed, but for those who do not no expiation is possible. Also it is curious that
a theorist who makes the sons common property only debars lovers from intercourse and does not
prohibit love, nor the other familiarities, which between father and son or brother and brother are most
unseemly, since even the fact of love between them is unseemly. And it is also strange that he deprives
them of intercourse for no other reason except because the pleasure is too violent; and that he thinks it
makes no difference that the parties are in the one case father or son and in the other case brothers of
one another. And it seems that this community of wives and sons is more serviceable for the Farmer
class than for the Guardians; [1262b] [1] for there will be less friendship among them if their children
and women are in common, and unfriendliness in the subject classes is a good thing with a view to their
being submissive to authority and not making revolution. But speaking generally such a law is bound to
bring about the opposite state of things to that which rightly enacted laws ought properly to cause, and
because of which Socrates thinks it necessary to make these regulations about the children and women.
For we think that friendship is the greatest of blessings for the state, since it is the best safeguard against
revolution, and the unity of the state, which Socrates praises most highly, both appears to be and is said
by him to be the effect of friendship, just as we know that Aristophanes9 in the discourses on love
describes how the lovers owing to their extreme affection desire to grow together and both become one
instead of being two. In such a union it would be inevitable that both would be spoiled, or at least one,
and in the state friendship would inevitably become watery in consequence of such association, and the
expressions my father and my son would quite go out. For just as putting a little sugar into a quantity
of water makes the mixture imperceptible, so it also must come about that the mutual relationship
based on these names must become imperceptible, [20] since in the republic described by Plato there
will be the least possible necessity for people to care for one another as father for sons or as son for
father or as brother for brother. For there are two things that most cause men to care for and to love
each other, the sense of ownership and the sense of preciousness; and neither motive can be present
with the citizens of a state so constituted. Again, as to the transference of some of the children at birth
from the Farmers and Artisans to the Guardians10 and of others from the Guardians to the Farmers and
Artisans, there is much confusion as to how it is to be done; and the parents who give the children and
the officials who transfer them are bound to know which they give to whom. And again, the things
spoken of above are bound to occur even more with these transferred children, such as outrage, love-
making and murder; for the children of the Guardians transferred to the other citizens will no longer
speak of the Guardians as brothers and children and fathers and mothers, nor yet will those living among
the Guardians so speak of the other classes, so as to be careful not to commit any such offence because
of their relationship. Such therefore may be our decision as to community of children and women. In
connection with this we have to consider the due regulation of property in a community that is to have
the best political institutions: should property be owned in common or privately? This question might
indeed be considered separately from the system laid down by law with regard to the children and the
women: [1263a] [1] I mean, even if there be separate families as is now the case with all nations, is it
better for both the ownership and the employment of property to be in common. . . ,11 for example,
should the farms be separate property but the farm-produce be brought into the common stock for
consumption (as is the practice with some non-Greek races); or on the contrary should the land be
common and farmed in common, but the produce be divided for private use (and this form of
communism also is said to prevail among some of the barbarians); or should both farms and produce be
common property? Now if the tillers of the soil be of a different class12 there might be another and
easier system, but if the citizens do the work for themselves, the regulations for the common ownership
of property would give more causes for discontent; for if both in the enjoyment of the produce and in
the work of production they prove not equal but unequal, complaints are bound to arise between those
who enjoy or take much but work little and those who take less but work more. And in general to live
together and share all our human affairs is difficult, and especially to share such things as these. And this
is shown in the partnerships of fellow-travellers, for almost the greatest number of them quarrel
because they come into collision with one another as a result of ordinary matters and trifles; and also we
come into collision most with those of our servants [20] whom we employ most often for ordinary
attendance. Community of property therefore involves these and other similar difficulties; and the
present system, if further improved by good morals and by the regulation of correct legislation, would be
greatly superior. For it will possess the merit of both systems, by which I mean the advantage of property
being common and the advantage of its being private. For property ought to be common in a sense but
private speaking absolutely. For the superintendence of properties being divided among the owners will
not cause these mutual complaints, and will improve the more because each will apply himself to it as to
private business of his own; while on the other hand virtue will be exercised to make friends' goods
common goods, as the proverb13 goes, for the purpose of use. Such a system exists even now in outline
in some states, showing that it is not impracticable, and especially in the ones that are well-administered
parts of it are realized already and parts might be realized; for individuals while owning their property
privately put their own possessions at the service of their friends and make use of their friends'
possessions as common property; for instance in Sparta people use one another's slaves as virtually their
own, as well as horses and hounds, and also use the produce in the fields throughout the country if they
need provisions on a journey. It is clear therefore that it is better for possessions to be privately owned,
but to make them common property in use; and to train the citizens to this is the special task of the
legislator. And moreover to feel that a thing is one's private property makes an inexpressibly great
difference for pleasure; for the universal feeling of love for oneself is surely not purposeless, but a
natural instinct. [1263b] [1] Selfishness on the other hand is justly blamed; but this is not to love oneself
but to love oneself more than one ought, just as covetousness means loving money to excesssince
some love of self, money and so on is practically universal. Moreover, to bestow favors and assistance on
friends or visitors or comrades is a great pleasure, and a condition of this is the private ownership of
property. These advantages therefore do not come to those who carry the unification of the state too
far; and in addition to this they manifestly do away with the practice of two virtues, temperance in
relation to women (for it is a noble deed to refrain from one through temperance when she belongs to
another) and liberality in relation to possessions (for one will not be able to display liberality nor perform
a single liberal action, since the active exercise of liberality takes place in the use of possessions). Such
legislation therefore has an attractive appearance, and might be thought to be humane; for he who is
told about it welcomes it with gladness, thinking that it will result in a marvellous friendliness of
everybody towards everybody, especially when somebody denounces the evils at present existing in
states as due to the fact that [20] wealth is not owned in common I mean lawsuits between citizens
about breach of contract, and trials for perjury, and the flattery of the rich. But the real cause of all these
evils is not the absence of communism, but wickedness, since we see far more quarrels occurring among
those who own or use property in common than among those who have their estates separate; but we
notice that those who quarrel as a result of their partnerships are few when compared with the total
number of private owners. And again it is just to state not only all the evils that men will lose by adopting
communism, but also all the good things; and life in such circumstances is seen to be utterly impossible.
The cause of Socrates' error must be deemed to be that his fundamental assumption was incorrect. It is
certain that in a way both the household and the state should be a unit, but they should not be so in
every way. For in one way the state as its unification proceeds will cease to be a state, and in another
way, though it continues a state, yet by coming near to ceasing to be one it will be a worse state, just as
if one turned a harmony into unison or a rhythm into a single foot. The proper thing is for the state,
while being a multitude, to be made a partnership and a unity by means of education, as has been said
before and it is strange that the very philosopher who intends to introduce a system of education and
thinks that this will make the city morally good should fancy that he can regulate society by such
measures as have been mentioned instead of by manners and culture and laws, just as the legislator
introduced community of property in Sparta and Crete by the institution of public messes. [1264a] [1]
And this very point also must not be ignored, that attention must be paid to length of time and to the
long period of years, in which it would not have escaped notice if these measures were good ones; for
nearly all of them have been discovered already, although some of them have not been collected
together and others though brought to knowledge are not put into practice. And their value would
become most manifest if one could see such a constitution in actual process of formation; for one will
only be able to construct Plato's state by introducing its partitions and dividing up the community into
common messes and also into brotherhoods and tribes. So that in the upshot no other regulation will
have been enacted except the exemption of the Guardians from the work of agriculture, which is a
measure that even now the Spartans attempt to introduce. Moreover, the working of the constitution as
a whole in regard to the members of the state has also not been described by Socrates, nor is it easy to
say what it will be. Yet the general mass of the citizens of the other classes make almost the bulk of the
state, and about these no definite regulations are laid down, as to whether the Farmers also are to have
their property in common or to hold it in private ownership, and also whether community of wives and
children is to apply to them or not. For if the Farmers are to have the same complete communism, what
will be the difference between them and the Guardian class? or what advantage will they gain by
submitting to their government? or what consideration will induce them to submit to [20] the
government, unless the Guardians adopt some clever device like that of the Cretans? These have
conceded to their slaves all the same rights as they have themselves except that they are forbidden
gymnastic exercises and the possession of arms. But if the family life and property of the Farmers are to
be such as they are in other states, what sort of communism will there be? For there will inevitably be
two states in one, and these antagonistic to one another. For Socrates makes the Guardians a sort of
garrison, while the Farmers, Artisans and other classes are the citizens.14 But quarrels and lawsuits and
all the other evils which according to Socrates exist in actual states will all be found among his citizens
too. Yet he says that owing to their education they will not need many regulations such as city and
market by-laws and the other regulations of that sort, although he assigns his education only to the
Guardians. Again, he makes the Farmers the masters of the estates, for which they pay rent; but they are
likely to be far more unmanageable and rebellious than the classes of helots, serfs and slaves in certain
states today. However, whether this communism is to be compulsory for the Farmers in the same way as
for the Guardians or whether it is not, has as a matter of fact not been definitely stated anywhere, nor is
there any information about the connected questions, what are to be the political functions and the
education of the lower classes, and the laws affecting them. But it is not easy to discover the answers to
these questions, yet the character of the lower classes is of no small importance for the preservation of
the community of the Guardians. [1264b] [1] But again, if Socrates intends to make the Farmers have
their wives in common but their property private, who is to manage the household in the way in which
the women's husbands will carry on the work of the farms? And if the property and the wives of the
Farmers are to be common . . . 15 It is also strange that Socrates employs the comparison of the lower
animals to show that the women are to have the same occupations as the men, considering that animals
have no households to manage. Also Socrates' method of appointing the magistrates is not a safe one.
For he makes the same persons hold office always; but this occasions rebellion even among people of no
special distinction, much more so then among high-spirited and warlike men. But it is clear that he is
compelled to make the same persons govern always, for the god-given admixture of gold in the soul is
not bestowed on some at one time and others at another time, but is always in the same men, and
Socrates says that at the moment of birth some men receive an admixture of gold and others of silver
and those who are to be the Artisans and Farmers an admixture of copper and iron. And again, although
he deprives the Guardians of happiness, he says that it is the duty of the law-giver to make the whole
city happy. But it is not possible for the whole to be happy unless most or all of its parts, or some of
them, possess happiness. For happiness is not a thing of the same sort [20] as being an even number:
that may belong to a whole but not to either of its parts, but happiness cannot belong to the whole and
not to its parts. But yet, if the Guardians are not happy, what other class is? For clearly the Artisans and
the general mass of the vulgar classes are not. The Republic discussed by Socrates therefore possesses
these difficulties and also others not smaller than these. And almost the same holds good of the Laws
also, which was written later, so that it will be advantageous to make some small examination of the
constitution described in that book as well. For in the Republic Socrates has laid down details about very
few mattersregulations about community of wives and children and about property, and the structure
of the constitution (for the mass of the population is divided into two parts, one forming the Farmer
class and the other the class that defends the state in war, and there is a third class drawn from these
latter that forms the council and governs the state), but about the Farmers and the Artisans, whether
they are excluded from government or have some part in it, and whether these classes also are to
possess arms and to serve in war with the others or not, on these points Socrates has made no decision,
but though he thinks that the women ought to serve in war with the Guardians and share the same
education, the rest of the discourse he has filled up with external topics, and about the sort of education
which it is proper for the Guardians to have.16 [1265a] [1] But though the Laws consists for the most
part of a treatise on law, the author has said a little about the form of the constitution, and in a desire to
make this more suitable for adoption by actual states he brings it round by degrees back to the other
form, that of the Republic. For except community in wives and property, he assigns all his other
regulations in the same form to both states, for he prescribes for both the same scheme of education,
and a life detached from menial tasks, and similarly as regards common meals, except that in the state
described in the Laws he says there are to be common meals for women also, and he makes the Republic
consist of a class possessing arms that numbers a thousand, but the state of the Laws has five thousand.
Now it is true that all the discourses of Socrates possess brilliance, cleverness, originality and keenness
of inquiry, but it is no doubt difficult to be right about everything: for instance with regard to the size of
population just mentioned it must not be over-looked that a territory as large as that of Babylon will be
needed for so many inhabitants, or some other country of unlimited extent, to support five thousand
men in idleness and another swarm of women and servants around them many times as numerous. It is
proper no doubt to assume ideal conditions, but not to go beyond all bounds of possibility. And it is said
that in laying down the laws the legislator must have his attention fixed on two things, [20] the territory
and the population. But also it would be well to add that he must take into account the neighboring
regions also, if the city is to live a life of politics17 (for it is necessary for it to use for war not only such
arms as are serviceable within its own territory but also such as are serviceable against places outside it);
and if one does not accept such a description whether for the life of the individual or for the common
life of the state, yet it is none the less necessary for the citizens to be formidable to their enemies not
only when they have entered the country but also when they have left it.18 Also the amount of property
requires consideration: would it not perhaps be better to define it differently, by a clearer formula? The
writer says that it ought to be sufficiently large for the citizens to live a temperate lifeas if one were
to say to live a good life; but really that phrase is too general, since it is possible to live temperately yet
miserably. But a better definition would be to live temperately and liberally (for if the two are separated
a liberal mode of life is liable to slip into luxury and a temperate one into a life of hardship), since surely
these are the only desirable qualities relating to the use of wealthfor instance you cannot use wealth
gently or bravely, but you can use it temperately and liberally, so that it follows that these are qualities
that have to do with wealth. And it is also strange that although equalizing properties the writer does
not regulate the number of the citizens, but leaves the birth-rate uncontrolled, on the assumption that it
will be sufficiently levelled up to the same total owing to childless marriages, however many children are
begotten, [1265b] [1] because this seems to take place in the states at present. But this ought to be
regulated much more in the supposed case than it is now, for now nobody is destitute, because estates
are divided among any number, but then, as division of estates will not be allowed, the extra children
will necessarily have nothing, whether they are fewer in number or more. And one might think that
restriction ought to be put on the birth-rate rather than on property, so as not to allow more than a
certain number of children to be produced, and that in fixing their number consideration should be paid
to the chances of its happening that some of the children born may die, and to the absence of children
in the other marriages; but for the matter to be left alone, as it is in most states, is bound to lead to
poverty among the citizens, and poverty produces sedition and crime. The Corinthian Phidon19 in fact,
one of the most ancient lawgivers, thought that the house-holds and the citizen population ought to
remain at the same numbers, even though at the outset the estates of all were unequal in size; but in
Plato's Laws the opposite is the case.20 However, we must say later what we think would be a better
system in these matters; but another question omitted in the Laws is how the rulers will be different
from the classes ruled; the writer prescribes [20] that the rulers are to stand in the same relation to the
ruled as the warp of cloth stands to the woof by being made of different wool.21 And inasmuch as he
allows a man's total property to be increased up to five times its original value, for what reason should
not an increase in his landed estate be allowed up to a certain point? Also it must be considered whether
the proposed separation of homesteads is not inexpedient for household economyfor the writer
allotted two homesteads separate from one another to each citizen; but it is difficult to manage two
households.22 And the whole constitution is intended, it is true, to be neither a democracy nor an
oligarchy, but of the form intermediate between them which is termed a republic, for the government is
constituted from the class that bears arms. If therefore he introduces this constitution as the one most
commonly existing of all forms of constitution in the actual states, he has perhaps made a good
proposal, but if he introduces it as the next best to the first form of constitution, it is not a good
proposal; for very likely one might approve the Spartan constitution more highly, or perhaps some other
form nearer to an aristocracy. In fact some people assert that the best constitution must be a
combination of all the forms of constitution, and therefore praise the constitution of Sparta (for some
people say that it consists of oligarchy, monarchy and democracy, meaning that the kingship is monarchy
and the rule of the ephors oligarchy, but that an element of democracy is introduced by the rule of the
ephors because the ephors come from the common people; while others pronounce the ephorate a
tyranny but find an element of democracy in the public mess-tables and in the other regulations of daily
life). [1266a] [1] In Plato's Laws on the other hand it is stated that the best constitution must consist of a
combination of democracy and tyranny,23 which one might refuse to count as constitutional
governments at all, or else rank as the worst of all constitutions. A better theory therefore is put forward
by those who intermingle a larger number of forms, for the constitution composed of a combination of a
larger number of forms is better. In the next place, the constitution in the Laws proves as a matter of fact
not to contain any element of monarchy at all, but its factors are taken from oligarchy and democracy,
and for the most part it tends to incline towards oligarchy. This appears from the regulations for the
appointment of the magistrates; for their selection by lot from a list previously elected by vote is a
feature common to both oligarchy and democracy, but the compulsion put upon the richer citizens to
attend the assembly and vote for magistrates or perform any other political function, while the others
are allowed to do as they like, is oligarchical, as is the endeavor to secure that a majority of the
magistrates shall be drawn from the wealthy and that the highest offices shall be filled from the highest
of the classes assessed by wealth. But the writer also makes the election of the council oligarchical for
everybody is compelled to elect, but from the first property-class, and then again an equal number from
the second class, and then from the members of the third class, except that it was not to be compulsory
for all to vote for those to be elected from the members of the third or the fourth class, and to elect
from the fourth class was only compulsory for the members of the first and second classes; and
afterwards from those thus selected he says that they are to appoint [20] an equal number from each
class. Thus those who elect the members from the highest property classes will be more numerous and
better,24 because some of the lower orders will abstain from voting25 as it is not compulsory.
Accordingly that it is not proper to establish a constitution of this character from a blend of democracy
and monarchy appears clearly from these considerations, and from what will be said later when our
inquiry comes to deal with this class of constitution; also the provision for the election of the rulers from
among candidates chosen at a preliminary election is dangerous, for if even a moderate number of
people choose to combine into a party, the elections will always go according to their wish. Such are the
points as to the constitution in the Laws. There are also certain other constitutional schemes, some
drawn up by amateurs and others by philosophers and statesmen, but all of them are nearer to those
which have been actually established and by which states are governed at present than are both of those
which have been considered; for nobody else has introduced the innovation of community of children
and women, nor that of public meals for the women, but they start rather with the necessary reforms.
For some persons think that the right regulation of property is the most important; for the question of
property, they say, is universally the cause of party strife. Therefore the Chalcedonian Phaleas26 was the
first who introduced this expedient; for he says that the citizens' estates ought to be equal [1266b] [1]
and he thought that this would not be difficult to secure at the outset for cities in process of foundation,
while in those already settled, although it would be a more irksome task, nevertheless a levelling would
most easily be effected by the rich giving dowries but not receiving them and the poor receiving but not
giving them. Plato when writing the Laws thought that up to a certain point inequality ought to be
allowed, but that no citizen should be permitted to acquire more land than would make his estate five
times the size of the smallest, as has also been said before. But those who bring in legislation of this sort
must also not overlook this point, which is overlooked at present, that when regulating the amount of
property legislators ought also to regulate the size of the family; for if the number of children becomes
too large for the property, the law is quite sure to be broken, and apart from the breach of the law it is a
bad thing that many citizens who were rich should become poor, for it is difficult for such men not to be
advocates of a new order. That a level standard of property affects the community of the citizens in an
important manner some men even in old times clearly have recognized; for example there is the
legislation of Solon, and other states have a law prohibiting the acquisition of land to any amount that
the individual may desire; and similarly there is legislation to prevent the sale of estates, as at Locri there
is a law [20] that a man shall not sell unless he can prove that manifest misfortune has befallen him and
also there is legislation to preserve the old allotments, and the repeal of this restriction at Leucas made
the Leucadian constitution excessively democratic, for it came about that the offices were no longer
filled from the established property-qualifications. But it is possible that equality of estates may be
maintained, but their size may be either too large and promote luxury, or too small, causing a penurious
standard of living; it is clear therefore that it is not enough for the lawgiver to make the estates equal,
but he must aim at securing a medium size. And again, even if one prescribed a moderate property for
all, it would be of no avail, since it is more needful to level men's desires than their properties, and this
can only be done by an adequate system of education enforced by law. But perhaps Phaleas would say
that he himself actually prescribes this, as he considers it fundamentally necessary for states to have
equality in these two things, property and education. But the nature of the education needs to be
defined: it is no use merely for it to be one and the same for all, for it is possible for all to have one and
the same education but for this to be of such a nature as to make them desirous of getting more than
their share of money or honor or both; moreover27 civil strife is caused not only by inequality of
property but also by inequality of honors, though the two motives operate in opposite waysthe
masses are discontented if possessions are unequally distributed, [1267a] [1] the upper classes if honors
are equally distributed, bringing it about that Noble and base in equal honor stand.28 Nor do men do
wrong for the sake of the bare necessities only, the sort of wrongdoing for which Phaleas thinks that
equality of substance is a curepreventing highway robbery by removing the motive of cold or hunger;
men also do wrong to gain pleasure and to satisfy desire. For if they have a desire above the bare
necessities of existence, they will transgress to cure this desire; and moreover not because of desire
only, but in order that they may enjoy the pleasures that are not associated with pains. What remedy
then is there for these three classes of offenders? For the first class, a modest competence and work; for
the second, temperance; and as for the third sort, any people who desire pleasures that depend on
themselves would require no cure for their desires save that which is derived from philosophy, for the
other pleasures require the aid of fellow-creatures. Since clearly the greatest transgressions spring from
a desire for superfluities, not for bare necessaries (for example, men do not become tyrants in order to
avoid shivering with cold, and accordingly high honors are awarded to one who kills a tyrant, but not to
one who kills a thief); so that the method of the constitution of Phaleas is efficacious only against the
minor social disorders. Again, Phaleas desires to frame institutions for the most part which will lead to a
right state of affairs in the internal relations of the citizens, but the legislator should also have regard to
relations with the neighboring peoples and with all foreign nations. [20] It is essential therefore for the
constitution to be framed with a view to military strength, about which Phaleas has said nothing. And
the same is true also about property; for the citizens should not only possess enough to meet their
requirements in civic life, but also to encounter the perils that face them from outside; hence they
should possess neither so large an amount of wealth that it will be coveted by their neighbors and by
stronger states while its possessors will be unable to repel their assailants, nor yet so small an amount as
not to be capable of sustaining a war even against equal and similar states. Phaleas, it is true, has laid
down no rule at all, but the question must not be overlooked, what amount of wealth is advantageous.
Perhaps therefore the best limit to prescribe is that it must not profit a stronger people to make war
upon the state because of its excessive wealth, but only just as it might do even if the citizens had not
got so much property. For example, when Autophradates was about to lay siege to Atarneus,29 Eubulus
bade him consider how long it would take him to capture the place, and then calculate what his
expenditure would be for that period, for he himself was willing for the payment of a smaller sum than
that to evacuate Atarneus at once; these words caused Autophradates to ponder and led him to
abandon the siege. Now equality of property among the citizens is certainly one of the factors that
contribute to the avoidance of party faction; it is not however a particularly important one. For the
upper classes may resent it on the ground that their merits are not equal, owing to which we actually
see them often attacking the government and rebelling; [1267b] [1] and also the baseness of human
beings is a thing insatiable, and though at the first a dole of only two obols30 is enough, yet when this
has now become an established custom, they always want more, until they get to an unlimited amount;
for appetite is in its nature unlimited, and the majority of mankind live for the satisfaction of appetite.
The starting-point in such matters therefore, rather than levelling estates, is to train those that are
respectable by nature so that they may not wish for excessive wealth, and to contrive that the base may
not be able to do so, and this is secured if they are inferior in number and not unjustly treated. And also
we cannot approve what Phaleas has said about equality of property, for he makes the citizens equal in
respect of landed estate only, but wealth also consists in slaves and cattle and money, and there is an
abundance of property in the shape of what is called furniture; we must therefore either seek to secure
equality or some moderate regulation as regards all these things, or we must permit all forms of wealth.
And it is clear from Phaleas's legislation that he makes the citizen-population a small one, inasmuch as all
the artisans are to be publicly owned slaves and are not to furnish any complement of the citizen-body.
But if it is proper to have public slaves, the laborers employed upon the public works ought to be of that
status (as is the case at Epidamnus and as Diophantus once tried to institute at Athens). These remarks
may serve fairly well to indicate such merits [20] and defects as may be contained in the constitution of
Phaleas. Hippodamus31 son of Euryphon, a Milesian (who invented the division of cities into blocks and
cut up Piraeus, and who also became somewhat eccentric in his general mode of life owing to a desire
for distinction, so that some people thought that he lived too fussily, with a quantity of hair32 and
expensive ornaments, and also a quantity of cheap yet warm clothes not only in winter but also in the
summer periods, and who wished to be a man of learning in natural science generally), was the first man
not engaged in politics who attempted to speak on the subject of the best form of constitution. His
system was for a city with a population of ten thousand, divided into three classes; for he made one class
of artisans, one of farmers, and the third the class that fought for the state in war and was the armed
class. He divided the land into three parts, one sacred, one public and one private: sacred land to supply
the customary offerings to the gods, common land to provide the warrior class with food, and private
land to be owned by the farmers. He thought that there are only three divisions of the law, since the
matters about which lawsuits take place are three in numberoutrage, damage, homicide. He also
proposed to establish one supreme court of justice, to which were to be carried up all the cases at law
thought to have been decided wrongly, and this court he made to consist of certain selected elders.
[1268a] [1] He held that the verdicts in the courts ought not to be given by ballot, but that each juryman
should bring a tablet on which if he found a simple verdict of guilty he should write the penalty, and if
simply not guilty leave a blank, but if he found the prisoner guilty on some counts but not on others he
should state this; for the present state of the law he thought unsatisfactory, since it forces jurors to
commit perjury by giving either the one verdict or the other. He proposed a law that those who
discovered something of advantage to the state should receive honor, and that the children of those who
died in war should have their maintenance from the state, in the belief that this had never yet been
provided by law among other peoplebut as a matter of fact this law exists at present both at Athens
and in others of the cities. The governing officials were all to be chosen by the assembly of the people,
and this he made to consist of the three classes of the city; and the officials elected were to superintend
the business of the community and the affairs of foreign residents and of orphans. These then are the
greatest number and the most noteworthy of the provisions in the system of Hippodamus. But doubt
might be raised first of all about the division of the general mass of the citizens. The artisans, the farmers
and the military class all participate in the government, though the farmers have not got arms and the
artisans neither arms nor land, [20] which makes them almost the slaves of those who possess the arms.
Therefore for them to share in all the offices is impossible (for it is inevitable that both military
commanders and civic guards and in general the most important offices should be appointed from those
that have the arms); but if they do not share in the government of the state, how is it possible for them
to be friendly towards the constitution? But it may be said that the ruling class as possessing the arms is
bound to be stronger than both classes. But this is not easy if they are not numerous and if this be the
case, why should the other classes participate in the government and control the appointment of the
rulers?33 Again, what use are the farmers to the state? artisans there must necessarily be (for every
state requires artisans), and they can make a living as in the other states from the practice of their craft;
but as for the farmers, although it would have been reasonable for them to be a portion of the state if
they provided the class possessing the arms with its food, as it is they have private land of their own and
farm it for themselves. And again, if the common land from which those who fight for the state are to
have their food is to be farmed by themselves, the military class would not be different from the
agricultural, but the legislator intends it to be; while if the cultivators of the common land are to be a
different set of people from both those who cultivate the private farms and the soldiers, this will be yet a
forth section of the state, holding no part in it but quite estranged from the government. But yet if one is
to make those who cultivate the private and the common land the same people, the amount of the
produce from the farms which each man will cultivate will be scanty for two households, [1268b] [1] and
moreover why are they not both to take food for themselves and to supply it to the soldiers direct from
the land and from the same allotments? All these points therefore involve much confusion. Also the law
about trials is unsatisfactorythe requirement that the verdict shall be given on separate counts when
the charge in the indictment is single, and the conversion of the juror into an arbitrator. A qualified
verdict is practicable in an arbitration even when there are several arbitrators (for they confer with one
another about their verdict), but it is not practicable in the law-courts, but the contrary to this is actually
provided for by most lawgivers, who prohibit consultation between the jurymen. Then the verdict will
inevitably be a confused one when the juror thinks that the defendant is liable for damages but not in so
large an amount as the plaintiff claims; for the plaintiff will sue for twenty minae34 and the juror will
adjudge ten minae (or the former some larger and the latter some smaller sum), and another juror five
minae, and yet another four (and so they will obviously go on making fractions), while others will award
the whole sum, and others nothing; what then will be the method of counting the votes? Again, nobody
compels the juror to commit perjury who, if the indictment has been drawn in simple form, gives a
simple verdict of acquittal or condemnation, and gives it justly; for the juror [20] who gives a verdict of
acquittal does not give judgement that the defendant owes nothing, but that he does not owe the
twenty minae for which he is sued; it is only the juror who gives a verdict condemning the defendant
when he does not think that he owes twenty minae who commits perjury. As for the view that an honor
ought to be awarded to those who invent something advantageous to the state, legislation to this effect
is not safe, but only specious to the ear; for it involves malicious prosecutions and, it may even happen,
constitutional upheavals. And the matter leads to another problem and a different inquiry: some persons
raise the question whether to alter the ancestral laws, supposing another law is better, is harmful or
advantageous to states. Hence it is not easy to give a speedy agreement to the above proposal to honor
reformers, if really it is disadvantageous to alter the laws; yet it is possible that persons may bring
forward the repeal of laws or of the constitution as a benefit to the community. And since we have made
mention of this question, it will be better if we set out a few further observations about it, for, as we
said, it involves difficulty. And it might be thought that it would be better for alteration to take place; at
all events in the other fields of knowledge this has proved beneficialfor example, medicine has been
improved by being altered from the ancestral system, and gymnastic training, and in general all the arts
and faculties so that since statesmanship also is to be counted as one of these, it is clear that the same
thing necessarily holds good in regard to it as well. And it might be said that a sign of this has occurred in
the actual events of history, for (one might argue) the laws of ancient times were too simple and
uncivilized: the Hellenes, for instance, used both to carry arms and to purchase their wives from one
another, and all the survivals of the customs of antiquity existing anywhere are utterly foolish, [1269a]
[1] as for example at Cyme there is a law relating to trials for murder, that if the prosecutor on the charge
of murder produces a certain number of his own relatives as witnesses, the defendant is guilty of the
murder. And in general all men really seek what is good, not what was customary with their forefathers;
and it is probable that primitive mankind, whether sprung from the earth35 or the survivors of some
destructive cataclysm,36 were just like ordinary foolish people, as indeed is actually said of the earth-
born race, so that it is odd that we should abide by their notions. Moreover even written codes of law
may with advantage not be left unaltered. For just as in the other arts as well, so with the structure of
the state it is impossible that it should have been framed aright in all its details; for it must of necessity
be couched in general terms, but our actions deal with particular things. These considerations therefore
make it clear that it is proper for some laws sometimes to be altered. But if we consider the matter in
another way, it would seem to be a thing that needs much caution. For when it is the case that the
improvement would be small, but it is a bad thing to accustom men to repeal the laws lightly, it is clear
that some mistakes both of the legislator and of the magistrate should be passed over; for the people
will not be as much benefited by making an alteration as they will be harmed by becoming accustomed
to distrust their rulers. Also, the example from the case of the arts is a mistake, [20] as to change the
practice of an art is a different thing from altering a law; for the law has no power to compel obedience
beside the force of custom, and custom only grows up in long lapse of time, so that lightly to change
from the existing laws to other new laws is to weaken the power of the law. Again, even if alteration of
the laws is proper, are all the laws to be open to alteration, and in every form of constitution, or not? and
is any chance person to be competent to introduce alterations or only certain people? for there is a great
difference between these alternatives. Therefore let us abandon this inquiry for the present, since it
belongs to other occasions. On the subject of the constitution of Sparta and that of Crete, and virtually
in regard to the other forms of constitution also, the questions that arise for consideration are two, one
whether their legal structure has any feature that is admirable or the reverse in comparison with the
best system, another whether it contains any provision that is really opposed to the fundamental
principle and character of the constitution that the founders had in view. Now it is a thing admitted that
a state that is to be well governed must be provided with leisure from menial occupations; but how this
is to be provided it is not easy to ascertain. The serf class in Thessaly repeatedly rose against its masters,
and so did the Helots at Sparta, where they are like an enemy constantly sitting in wait for the disasters
of the Spartiates. Nothing of the kind has hitherto occurred in Crete, the reason perhaps being that the
neighboring cities, [1269b] [1] even when at war with one another, in no instance ally themselves with
the rebels, because as they themselves also possess a serf class this would not be for their interest;
whereas the Laconians were entirely surrounded by hostile neighbors, Argives, Messenians and
Arcadians. For with the Thessalians too the serf risings originally began because they were still at war
with their neighbors, the Achaeans, Perraebi and Magnesians. Also, apart from other drawbacks, the
mere necessity of policing a serf class is an irksome burdenthe problem of how intercourse with them
is to be carried on: if allowed freedom they grow insolent and claim equal rights with their masters, and
if made to live a hard life they plot against them and hate them. It is clear therefore that those whose
helot-system works out in this way do not discover the best mode of treating the problem. Again, the
freedom in regard to women is detrimental both in regard to the purpose of the constitution and in
regard to the happiness of the state. For just as man and wife are part of a household, it is clear that the
state also is divided nearly in half into its male and female population, so that in all constitutions in
which the position of the women is badly regulated one half of the state must be deemed to have been
neglected in framing the law. And this has taken place in the state under consideration, [20] for the
lawgiver wishing the whole city to be of strong character displays his intention clearly in relation to the
men, but in the case of the women has entirely neglected the matter; for they live dissolutely37 in
respect of every sort of dissoluteness, and luxuriously. So that the inevitable result is that in a state thus
constituted wealth is held in honor, especially if it is the case that the people are under the sway of their
women, as most of the military and warlike races are, except the Celts and such other races as have
openly held in honor passionate friendship between males. For it appears that the original teller of the
legend had good reason for uniting Ares with Aphrodite, for all men of martial spirit appear to be
attracted to the companionship either of male associates or of women. Hence this characteristic existed
among the Spartans, and in the time of their empire many things were controlled by the women; yet
what difference does it make whether the women rule or the rulers are ruled by the women? The result
is the same. And although bravery is of service for none of the regular duties of life, but if at all, in war,
even in this respect the Spartans' women were most harmful; and they showed this at the time of the
Theban invasion,38 for they rendered no useful service, as the women do in other states, while they
caused more confusion than the enemy. It is true therefore that at the outset the freedom allowed to
women at Sparta seems to have come about with good reason, [1270a] [1] for the Spartans used to be
away in exile abroad for long periods on account of their military expeditions, both when fighting the
war against the Argives and again during the war against the Arcadians and Messenians; but when they
had turned to peaceful pursuits, although they handed over themselves to the lawgiver already prepared
for obedience by military life (for this has many elements of virtue), as for the women it is said that
Lycurgus did attempt to bring them under the laws, but since they resisted he gave it up. So the Spartan
women are, it is true, responsible for what took place, and therefore manifestly for this mistake among
the rest; although for our own part we are not considering the question who deserves excuse or does
not, but what is the right or wrong mode of action. But, as was also said before, errors as regards the
status of women seem not only to cause a certain unseemliness in the actual conduct of the state but to
contribute in some degree to undue love of money. For next to the things just spoken of one might
censure the Spartan institutions with respect to the unequal distribution of wealth. It has come about
that some of the Spartans own too much property and some extremely little; owing to which the land
has fallen into few hands, and this has also been badly regulated by the laws; [20] for the lawgiver made
it dishonorable to sell a family's existing estate, and did so rightly, but he granted liberty to alienate land
at will by gift or bequest; yet the result that has happened was bound to follow in the one case as well as
in the other. And also nearly two-fifths of the whole area of the country is owned by women, because of
the number of women who inherit estates and the practice of giving large dowries; yet it would have
been better if dowries had been prohibited by law or limited to a small or moderate amount . . .39 But as
it is he is allowed to give an heiress in marriage to whomever he likes; and if he dies without having
made directions as to this by will, whoever he leaves as his executor bestows her upon whom he
chooses. As a result of this40 although the country is capable of supporting fifteen hundred cavalry and
thirty thousand heavy-armed troopers, they numbered not even a thousand. And the defective nature of
their system of land-tenure has been proved by the actual facts of history: the state did not succeed in
enduring a single blow,41 but perished owing to the smallness of its population. They have a tradition
that in the earlier reigns they used to admit foreigners to their citizenship, with the result that dearth of
population did not occur in those days, although they were at war for a long period; and it is stated that
at one time the Spartiates numbered as many as ten thousand. However, whether this is true or not, it is
better for a state's male population to be kept up by measures to equalize property. The law in relation
to parentage is also somewhat adverse to the correction of this evil. [1270b] [1] For the lawgiver desiring
to make the Spartiates as numerous as possible holds out inducements to the citizens to have as many
children as possible: for they have a law releasing the man who has been father of three sons from
military service, and exempting the father of four from all taxes. Yet it is clear that if a number of sons
are born and the land is correspondingly divided there will inevitably come to be many poor men.
Moreover the regulations for the Ephorate42 are also bad. For this office has absolute control over their
most important affairs, but the Ephors are appointed from the entire people, so that quite poor men
often happen to get into the office, who owing to their poverty used to be43 easily bought. This was
often manifested in earlier times, and also lately in the affair44 at Andros; for certain Ephors were
corrupted with money and so far as lay in their power ruined the whole state. And because the office
was too powerful, and equal to a tyranny, the kings also were compelled to cultivate popular favor, so
that in this way too the constitution was jointly injured, for out of an aristocracy came to be evolved a
democracy. Thus this office does, it is true, hold together the constitutionfor the common people keep
quiet because they have a share in the highest office of state, so that whether this is due to the lawgiver
or [20] has come about by chance, the Ephorate is advantageous for the conduct of affairs; for if a
constitution is to be preserved, all the sections of the state must wish it to exist and to continue on the
same lines; so the kings are in this frame of mind owing to their own honorable rank, the nobility owing
to the office of the Elders, which is a prize of virtue, and the common people because of the Ephorate,
which is appointed from the whole populationbut yet the Ephorate, though rightly open to all the
citizens, ought not to be elected as it is now, for the method is too childish.45 And further the Ephors
have jurisdiction in lawsuits of high importance, although they are any chance people, so that it would
be better if they did not decide cases on their own judgement but by written rules and according to the
laws. Also the mode of life of the Ephors is not in conformity with the aim of the state, for it is itself too
luxurious, whereas in the case of the other citizens the prescribed life goes too far in the direction of
harshness, so that they are unable to endure it, and secretly desert the law and enjoy the pleasures of
the body. Also their regulations for the office of the Elders are not good; it is true that if these were
persons of a high class who had been adequately trained in manly valor, one might perhaps say that the
institution was advantageous to the state, although their life-tenure of the judgeship in important trials
is indeed a questionable feature (for there is old age of mind as well as of body); [1271a] [1] but as their
education has been on such lines that even the lawgiver himself cannot trust in them as men of virtue, it
is a dangerous institution. And it is known that those who have been admitted to this office take bribes
and betray many of the public interests by favoritism; so that it would be better if they were not exempt
from having to render an account of their office, but at present they are. And it might be held that the
magistracy of the Ephors serves to hold all the offices to account; but this gives altogether too much to
the Ephorate, and it is not the way in which, as we maintain, officials ought to be called to account.
Again, the procedure in the election of the Elders as a mode of selection is not only childish, but it is
wrong that one who is to be the holder of this honorable office should canvass for it, for the man worthy
of the office ought to hold it whether he wants to or not. But as it is the lawgiver clearly does the same
here as in the rest of the constitution: he makes the citizens ambitious and has used this for the election
of the Elders, for nobody would ask for office if he were not ambitious; yet surely ambition and love of
money are the motives that bring about almost the greatest part of the voluntary wrongdoing that takes
place among mankind. As to monarchy, the question whether it is not or is an advantageous institution
for states to possess [20] may be left to another discussion; but at all events it would be advantageous
that kings should not be appointed as they are now, but chosen in each case with regard to their own life
and conduct. But it is clear that even the lawgiver himself does not suppose that he can make the kings
men of high character: at all events he distrusts them as not being persons of sufficient worth owing to
which the Spartans used to send kings who were enemies as colleagues on embassies, and thought that
the safety of the state depended on division between the kings. Also the regulations for the the public
mess-tables called Phiditia have been badly laid down by their originator. The revenue for these ought to
come rather from public funds, as in Crete; but among the Spartans everybody has to contribute,
although some of them are very poor and unable to find money for this charge, so that the result is the
opposite of what the lawgiver purposed. For he intends the organization of the common tables to be
democratic, but when regulated by the law in this manner it works out as by no means democratic; for it
is not easy for the very poor to participate, yet their ancestral regulation of the citizenship is that it is not
to belong to one who is unable to pay this tax. The law about the Admirals has been criticized by some
other writers also, and rightly criticized; for it acts as a cause of sedition, since in addition to the kings
who are military commanders the office of Admiral stands almost as another kingship. Another criticism
that may be made against the fundamental principle of the lawgiver [1271b] [1] is one that Plato has
made in the Laws. The entire system of the laws is directed towards one part of virtue only, military
valor, because this is serviceable for conquest. Owing to this they remained secure while at war, but
began to decline when they had won an empire, because they did not know how to live a life of leisure,
and had been trained in no other form of training more important than the art of war. And another error
no less serious than that one is this: they think that the coveted prizes of life are won by valor more than
by cowardice, and in this they are right, yet they imagine wrongly that these prizes are worth more than
the valor that wins them. The public finance of Sparta is also badly regulated: when compelled to carry
on wars on a large scale she has nothing in the state treasury, and the Spartiates pay war taxes badly
because, as most of the land is owned by them, they do not scrutinize each other's contributions. And
the lawgiver has achieved the opposite result to what is advantageoushe has made the state poor and
the individual citizen covetous. So much for a discussion of the constitution of Sparta: for these are the
main points in it for criticism. [20] The Cretan constitution approximates to that of Sparta, but though in
a few points it is not worse framed, for the larger part it has a less perfect finish. For the Spartan
constitution appears and indeed is actually stated46 to have been copied in most of its provisions from
the Cretan; and as a rule old things have been less fully elaborated than newer ones. For it is said that
when Lycurgus relinquished his post as guardian of King Charilaus47 and went abroad, he subsequently
passed most of his time in Crete because of the relationship between the Cretans and the Spartans; for
the Lyctians48 were colonists from Sparta, and the settlers that went out to the colony found the system
of laws already existing among the previous inhabitants of the place; owing to which the neighboring
villagers even now use these laws in the same manner, in the belief that Minos49 first instituted this
code of laws. And also the island appears to have been designed by nature and to be well situated to be
under Greek rule, as it lies across the whole of the sea, round which almost all the Greeks are settled; for
Crete is only a short distance from the Peloponnese in one direction, and from the part of Asia around
Triopium and from Rhodes in the other. Owing to this Minos won the empire of the sea,50 and made
some of the islands subject to him and settled colonies in others, but finally when making an attack on
Sicily he ended his life there near Camicus. The Cretan organization is on the same lines as that of
Sparta. In Sparta the land is tilled by the Helots and in Crete by the serfs; [1272a] [1] and also both have
public mess-tables, and in old days the Spartans called them not phiditia but men's messes, as the
Cretans do, which is a proof that they came from Crete. And so also did the system of government; for
the Ephors have the same power as the magistrates called Cosmi in Crete, except that the Ephors are five
in number and the Cosmi ten; and the Elders at Sparta are equal in number to the Elders whom the
Cretans call the Council; and monarchy existed in former times, but then the Cretans abolished it, and
the Cosmi hold the leadership in war; and all are members of the Assembly, though it has no powers
except the function of confirming by vote the resolutions already formed by the Elders and the Cosmi.
Now the Cretan arrangements for the public mess-tables are better than the Spartan; for at Sparta each
citizen pays a fixed poll-tax, failing which he is prevented by law from taking part in the government, as
has been said before; but in Crete the system is more communal, for out of all the crops and cattle
produced from the public lands, and the tributes paid by the serfs, one part is assigned for the worship
of the gods and the maintenance of the public services, [20] and the other for the public mess-tables, so
that all the citizens are maintained from the common funds, women and children as well as men; and
the lawgiver has devised many wise measures to secure the benefit of moderation at table, and the
segregation of the women in order that they may not bear many children, for which purpose he
instituted association with the male sex, as to which there will be another occasion51 to consider
whether it was a bad thing or a good one. That the regulations for the common mess-tables therefore
are better in Crete than at Sparta is manifest; but the regulations for the Cosmi are even worse than
those regarding the Ephors. For the evil attaching to the office of the Ephors belongs to the Cosmi also,
as the post is filled by any chance persons, while the benefit conferred on the government by this office
at Sparta is lacking in Crete. At Sparta, as the election is made from all the citizens, the common people
sharing in the highest office desire the maintenance of the constitution, but in Crete they do not elect
the Cosmi from all the citizens but from certain clans, and the Elders from those who have held the
office of Cosmos, about which regulations the same comments might be made as about what takes place
at Sparta: their freedom from being called to account and their tenure for life gives them greater rank
than their merit deserves, and their administration of their office at their own discretion and not under
the guidance of a written code is dangerous. And the fact that the common people quietly tolerate their
exclusion is no proof that the arrangement is a sound one; for the Cosmi unlike the Ephors make no sort
of profit, [1272b] [1] as they live in an island remote from any people to corrupt them. Also the remedy
which they employ for this defect52 is a curious one, and less characteristic of a republic than of a
dynasty53: often the Cosmi are expelled by a conspiracy formed among some of their actual colleagues
or the private citizens. Also the Cosmi are allowed to resign during their term of office. Now it would be
preferable for all these expedients to be put in force by law rather than at the discretion of individuals,
for that is a dangerous principle. And the worst expedient of all is that of the suspension of the office of
Cosmi, which is often brought about by members of the powerful class who wish to escape being
punished; this proves that the constitution has a republican element, although it is not actually a
republic but rather a dynasty.54 And the nobles frequently form parties among the common people and
among their friends and so bring about a suspension of government,55 and form factions and engage in
war with one another. Yet such a state of things is virtually the same as if for a period of time the state
underwent an entire revolution, and the bonds of civil society were loosened. And it is a precarious
position for a state to be in, when those who wish to attack it also have the power to do so. But, as has
been said, it is saved by its locality; for distance has had the same effect as alien-acts.56 A result of this is
that with the Cretans the serf population stands firm, whereas the Helots often revolt; for the Cretans
[20] take no part in foreign empire, and also the island has only lately been invaded by warfare from
abroad, rendering manifest the weakness of the legal system there. Let this suffice for our discussion of
this form of constitution. Carthage also appears to have a good constitution, with many outstanding
features as compared with those of other nations, but most nearly resembling the Spartan in some
points. For these three constitutions are in a way near to one another and are widely different from the
othersthe Cretan, the Spartan and, thirdly, that of Carthage. Many regulations at Carthage are good;
and a proof of a well-regulated constitution is that the populace willingly remain faithful to the
constitutional system, and that neither civil strife has arisen in any degree worth mentioning, nor yet a
tyrant. Points in which the Carthaginian constitution resembles the Spartan are the common mess-
tables of its Comradeships corresponding to the Phiditia, and the magistracy of the Hundred and Four
corresponding to the Ephors (except one point of superioritythe Ephors are drawn from any class, but
the Carthaginians elect this magistracy by merit); the kings and the council of Elders correspond to the
kings and Elders at Sparta, and it is another superior feature that the Carthaginian kings are not confined
to the same family and that one of no particular distinction, and also that if any family distinguishes itself
. . .57 the Elders are to be chosen from these rather than by age; for as they are put in control of
important matters, if they are men of no value they do great harm, [1273a] [1] and they have already
injured the Spartan State. Most of the points therefore in the Carthaginian system that would be
criticized on the ground of their divergences happen to be common to all the constitutions of which we
have spoken; but the features open to criticism as judged by the principle of an aristocracy or republic
are some of them departures in the direction of democracy and others in the direction of oligarchy. The
reference of some matters and not of others to the popular assembly rests with the kings in consultation
with the Elders in case they agree58 unanimously, but failing that, these matters also lie with the
people59; and when the kings introduce business in the assembly, they do not merely let the people sit
and listen to the decisions that have been taken by their rulers, but the people have the sovereign
decision, and anybody who wishes may speak against the proposals introduced, a right that does not
exist under the other constitutions. The appointment by co-optation of the Boards of Five which control
many important matters, and the election by these boards of the supreme magistracy of the Hundred,
and also their longer tenure of authority than that of any other officers (for they are in power after they
have gone out of office and before they have actually entered upon it) are oligarchical features; their
receiving no pay and not being chosen by lot and other similar regulations must be set down as
aristocratic, and so must the fact that the members of the Boards are the judges in all lawsuits, [20]
instead of different suits being tried by different courts as at Sparta. But the Carthaginian system
diverges from aristocracy in the direction of oligarchy most signally in respect of a certain idea that is
shared by the mass of mankind; they think that the rulers should be chosen not only for their merit but
also for their wealth, as it is not possible for a poor man to govern well or to have leisure for his duties. If
therefore election by wealth is oligarchical and election by merit aristocratic, this will be a third system
exhibited in the organization of the constitution of Carthage, for there elections are made with an eye to
these two qualifications, and especially elections to the most important offices, those of the kings and of
the generals. But it must be held that this divergence from aristocracy is an error on the part of a
lawgiver; for one of the most important points to keep in view from the outset is that the best citizens
may be able to have leisure and may not have to engage in any unseemly occupation, not only when in
office but also when living in private life. And if it is necessary to look to the question of means for the
sake of leisure, it is a bad thing that the greatest offices of state, the kingship and the generalship, should
be for sale. For this law makes wealth more honored than worth, and renders the whole state avaricious;
and whatever the holders of supreme power deem honorable, the opinion of the other citizens also is
certain to follow them, and a state in which virtue is not held in the highest honor [1273b] [1] cannot be
securely governed by an aristocracy. And it is probable that those who purchase office will learn by
degrees to make a profit out of it, when they hold office for money spent; for it would be odd if a man of
small means but respectable should want to make a profit but an inferior person when he has spent
money to get elected should not want to. Hence the persons who should be in office are those most
capable of holding office. And even if the lawgiver neglected to secure comfortable means for
respectable people, it would at all events be better that he should provide for their leisure while in
office. And it might also be thought a bad thing for the same person to hold several offices, which is
considered a distinction at Carthage. One man one job is the best rule for efficiency, and the lawgiver
ought to see that this may be secured, and not appoint the same man to play the flute and make shoes.
Hence except in a small city it is more statesmanlike for a larger number to share in the offices and more
democratic, for it is fairer to all, as we said, and also functions are performed better and more quickly
when separate than by the same people. This is clear in military and naval matters; for in both of these
departments command and subordination penetrate throughout almost the whole body.60 But the
constitution being oligarchical they best escape the dangers by being wealthy, as they constantly send
out a portion of the common people to [20] appointments in the cities; by this means they heal the
social sore and make the constitution stable. However, this is the achievement of fortune, whereas
freedom from civil strife ought to be secured by the lawgiver; but as it is, suppose some misfortune
occurs and the multitude of the subject class revolts, there is no remedy provided by the laws to restore
tranquillity. This then is the character of the Spartan, Cretan and Carthaginian constitutions, which are
justly famous. Of those that have put forward views about politics, some have taken no part in any
political activities whatever but have passed their whole life as private citizens; and something has been
said about almost all the writers of this class about whom there is anything noteworthy. Some on the
other hand have been lawgivers, either for their native cities or even for certain foreign peoples, after
having themselves been actively engaged in government; and of these some have been framers of laws
only, and others of a constitution also, for instance Solon and Lycurgus, who instituted both laws and
constitutions. The Spartan constitution has been discussed. As for Solon, he is considered by some
people to have been a good lawgiver, as having put an end to oligarchy when it was too unqualified and
having liberated the people from slavery and restored the ancestral democracy with a skilful blending of
the constitution: the Council on the Areopagus being an oligarchic element, the elective magistracies
aristocratic and the law-courts democratic. And although really in regard to certain of these features, the
Council and the election of magistrates, [1274a] [1] Solon seems merely to have abstained from
destroying institutions that existed already, he does appear to have founded the democracy by
constituting the jury-courts from all the citizens. For this he is actually blamed by some persons, as
having dissolved the power of the other parts of the community by making the law-court, which was
elected by lot, all-powerful. For as the law-court grew strong, men courted favor with the people as with
a tyrant, and so brought the constitution to the present democracy; and Ephialtes and Pericles docked
the power of the Council on the Areopagus, while Pericles instituted payment for serving in the law-
courts, and in this manner finally the successive leaders of the people led them on by growing stages to
the present democracy. But this does not seem to have come about in accordance with the intention of
Solon, but rather as a result of accident (for the common people having been the cause of the naval
victories at the time of the Persian invasion became proud and adopted bad men as popular leaders
when the respectable classes opposed their policy); inasmuch as Solon for his part appears to bestow
only the minimum of power upon the people, the function of electing the magistrates and of calling
them to account (for if even this were not under the control of the populace it would be a mere slave
and a foreign enemy), whereas he appointed all the offices from the notable and the wealthy, the Five-
hundred-bushel class [20] and the Teamsters and a third property-class called the Knighthood; while the
fourth class, the Thetes, were admitted to no office.61 Laws were given62 by Zaleucus to the
Epizephyrian63 Locrians and by Charondas64 of Catana to his fellow-citizens and to the other Chalcidic
cities65 on the coasts of Italy and Sicily. Some persons try to connect Zaleucus and Charondas together:
they say that Onomacritus first arose as an able lawgiver, and that he was trained in Crete, being a
Locrian and travelling there to practise the art of soothsaying, and Thales became his companion, and
Lycurgus and Zaleucus were pupils of Thales, and Charondas of Zaleucus; but these stories give too little
attention to the dates. Philolaus of Corinth also arose as lawgiver at Thebes. Philolaus belonged by birth
to the Bacchiad family; he became the lover of Diocles the winner66 at Olympia, but when Diocles
quitted the city because of his loathing for the passion of his mother Alcyone, he went away to Thebes,
and there they both ended their life. Even now people still show their tombs, in full view of each other
and one of them fully open to view in the direction of the Corinthian country but the other one not; for
the story goes that they arranged to be buried in this manner, Diocles owing to his hatred for his
misfortune securing that the land of Corinth might not be visible from his tomb, and Philolaus that it
might be from his. [1274b] [1] It was due then to a reason of this nature that they went to live at Thebes;
but Philolaus became the Thebans' lawgiver in regard to various matters, among others the size of
families,the laws called by the Thebans laws of adoption; about this Philolaus enacted special
legislation, in order that the number of the estates in land might be preserved. There is nothing special
in the code of Charondas except the trials for false witness (for he was the first to introduce the
procedure of denunciation), but in the accuracy of his laws he is a more finished workman even than the
legislators of today. (Peculiar to Phaleas67 is the measure for equalizing properties; to Plato,68
community of wives and children and of property, and the common meals for the women, and also the
law about drunkenness, enacting that sober persons are to be masters of the drinking-bouts, and the
regulation for military training to make men ambidextrous during drill, on the ground that it is a mistake
to have one of the two hands useful but the other useless.)There are laws of Draco,69 but he legislated
for an existing constitution, and there is nothing peculiar in his laws that is worthy of mention, except
their severity in imposing heavy punishment. Pittacus70 also was a framer of laws, but not of a
constitution; a special law of his is that if men commit any offence when drunk, [20] they are to pay a
larger fine than those who offend when sober; because since more men are insolent when drunk than
when sober he had regard not to the view that drunken offenders are to be shown more mercy, but to
expediency. Androdamas71 of Rhegium also became lawgiver to the Chalcidians in the direction of
Thrace,72 and to him belong the laws dealing with cases of murder and with heiresses; however one
cannot mention any provision that is peculiar to him. Let such be our examination of the constitutional
schemes actually in force and of those that have been proposed by certain persons. [1274b] [32] For
the student of government, and of nature and characteristics of the various forms of constitution, almost
the first question to consider is in regard to the state: what exactly is the essential nature of a state? As it
is, this is a matter of dispute: a public act is spoken of by some people as the action of the state, others
speak of it as the action not of the state but of the oligarchy or the tyrant in power1; and we see that the
activity of the statesman and lawgiver is entirely concerned with a state as its object, and a constitution
is a form of organization of the inhabitants of a state. But a state is a composite thing, in the same sense
as any other of the things that are wholes but consist of many parts; it is therefore clear that we must
first inquire into the nature of a citizen; for a state is a collection of citizens, [1275a] [1] so that we have
to consider who is entitled to the name of citizen, and what the essential nature of a citizen is. For there
is often a difference of opinion as to this: people do not all agree that the same person is a citizen; often
somebody who would be a citizen in a democracy is not a citizen under an oligarchy. We need not here
consider those who acquire the title of citizen in some exceptional manner, for example those who are
citizens by adoption; and citizenship is not constituted by domicile in a certain place (for resident aliens
and slaves share the domicile of citizens), nor are those citizens who participate in a common system of
justice, conferring the right to defend an action and to bring one in the law-courts (for this right belongs
also to the parties under a commercial treaty, as they too can sue and be sued at law,or rather, in
many places even the right of legal action is not shared completely by resident aliens, but they are
obliged to produce a patron, so that they only share in a common legal procedure to an incomplete
degree), but these are only citizens in the manner in which children who are as yet too young to have
been enrolled in the list and old men who have been discharged2 must be pronounced to be citizens in a
sense, yet not quite absolutely, but with the added qualification of under age in the case of the former
and superannuated or some other similar term (it makes no difference, the meaning being clear) in that
of the latter. For we seek to define a citizen in the absolute sense, and one possessing no [20]
disqualification of this nature that requires a correcting term, since similar difficulties may also be raised,
and solved, about citizens who have been disfranchised or exiled. A citizen pure and simple is defined by
nothing else so much as by the right to participate in judicial functions and in office. But some offices of
government are definitely limited in regard to time, so that some of them are not allowed to be held
twice by the same person at all, or only after certain fixed intervals of time; other officials are without
limit of tenure, for example the juryman and the member of the assembly. It might perhaps be said that
such persons are not officials at all, and that the exercise of these functions does not constitute the
holding of office;3 and yet it is absurd to deny the title of official to those who have the greatest power
in the state. But it need not make any difference, as it is only the question of a name, since there is no
common name for a juryman and a member of the assembly that is properly applied to both. For the
sake of distinction therefore let us call the combination of the two functions office without limitation.
Accordingly we lay it down that those are citizens who participate in office in this manner. Such more or
less is the definition of citizen that would best fit with all of those to whom the name is applied. But it
must not be forgotten that things in the case of which the things to which they are related differ in kind,
one of them being primary, another one secondary and so on, either do not contain a common nature at
all, as being what they are, or barely do so.4 Now we see that constitutions differ from one another in
kind, and that some are subsequent and others prior; [1275b] [1] for erroneous and divergent forms are
necessarily subsequent to correct forms (in what sense we employ the terms divergent of constitutions
will appear later). Hence the citizen corresponding to each form of constitution will also necessarily be
different. Therefore the definition of a citizen that we have given applies especially to citizenship in a
democracy; under other forms of government it may hold good, but will not necessarily do so. For in
some states there is no body of common citizens, and they do not have the custom of a popular
assembly but councils of specially convened members, and the office of trying law-suits goes by sections
for example at Sparta suits for breach of contract are tried by different ephors in different cases, while
cases of homicide are tried by the ephors and doubtless other suits by some other magistrate. The same
method is not5 followed at Carthage, where certain magistrates judge all the law-suits. But still, our
definition of a citizen admits of correction. For under the other forms of constitution a member of the
assembly and of a jury-court is not an official without restriction, but an official defined according to his
office; either all of them or some among them are assigned deliberative and judicial duties either in all
matters or in certain matters. What constitutes a citizen is therefore clear from these considerations: we
now declare that one who has the right to participate in deliberative or judicial office is a citizen of the
state [20] in which he has that right, and a state is a collection of such persons sufficiently numerous,
speaking broadly, to secure independence of life. But in practice citizenship is limited to the child of
citizens on both sides, not on one side only, that is, the child of a citizen father or of a citizen mother;
and other people carry this requirement further back, for example to the second or the third preceding
generation or further. But given this as a practical and hasty definition, some people raise the difficulty,
How will that ancestor three or four generations back have been a citizen? Gorgias6 of Leontini
therefore, partly perhaps in genuine perplexity but partly in jest, said that just as the vessels made by
mortar-makers were mortars, so the citizens made by the magistrates were Larisaeans, since some of the
magistrates were actually larisa-makers.7 But it is really a simple matter; for if they possessed citizenship
in the manner stated in our definition of a citizen, they were citizenssince it is clearly impossible to
apply the qualification of descent from a citizen father or mother to the original colonizers or founders of
a city. But perhaps a question rather arises about those who were admitted to citizenship when a
revolution had taken place, for instance such a creation of citizens as that carried out8 at Athens by
Cleisthenes after the expulsion of the tyrants, when he enrolled in his tribes many resident aliens who
had been foreigners or slaves. The dispute as to these is not about the fact of their citizenship, but
whether they received it wrongly or rightly. Yet even as to this one might raise the further question,
[1276a] [1] whether, if a man is not rightly a citizen, he is a citizen at all, as wrongly means the same as
not truly. But we sometimes see officials governing wrongly, as to whom we shall not deny that they do
govern, but shall say that they do not do it rightly, and a citizen is defined by a certain function of
government (a citizen, as we said, is one who shares in such and such an office); therefore it is clear that
even persons wrongly admitted to citizenship are to be pronounced to be citizens, although the question
whether they are so rightly or not rightly is connected with the question that was propounded before.9
For some persons raise the question, When is an occurrence the act of the state and when is it not? for
example, when the government has been altered from oligarchy or tyranny to democracy. In such
circumstances some people claim that the new government should not discharge public debts, on the
ground that the money was borrowed by the tyrant and not by the state, and should repudiate many
other similar claims also, because some forms of government rest upon force and are not aimed at the
welfare of the community. If therefore some democracies also are governed in that manner, the acts of
the authorities in their case can only be said to be the acts of the state in the same sense as the public
acts emanating from an oligarchy or a tyranny are said to be. Akin to this controversy seems to be the
subject, What exactly is the principle on which we ought to pronounce a city to be the same city as it
was before, or not the same but a different city? The most obvious mode of inquiring into this difficulty
[20] deals with place and people: the place and the people may have been divided, and some may have
settled in one place, and some in another. In this form the question must be considered as easier of
solution; for, as city has several meanings, the inquiry so put is in a way not difficult.10 But it may
similarly be asked, Suppose a set of men inhabit the same place, in what circumstances are we to
consider their city to be a single city? Its unity clearly does not depend on the walls, for it would be
possible to throw a single wall round the Peloponnesus; and a case in point perhaps is Babylon, and any
other city that has the circuit of a nation rather than of a city; for it is said that when Babylon was
captured a considerable part of the city was not aware of it three days later. But the consideration of this
difficulty will be serviceable for another occasion, as the student of politics must not ignore the question,
What is the most advantageous size for a city, and should its population be of one race or of several? But
are we to pronounce a city, where the same population inhabit the same place, to be the same city so
long as the population are of the same race, in spite of the fact that all the time some are dying and
others being born, just as it is our custom to say that a river or a spring is the same river or spring
although one stream of water is always being added to it and another being withdrawn from it, or are
we to say that though the people are the same people for the similar reason of continuity, yet the city is
a different city? [1276b] [1] For inasmuch as a state is a kind of partnership, and is in fact a partnership
of citizens in a government, when the form of the government has been altered and is different it would
appear to follow that the state is no longer the same state, just as we say that a chorus which on one
occasion acts a comedy and on another a tragedy is a different chorus although it is often composed of
the same persons, and similarly with any other common whole or composite structure we say it is
different if the form of its structure is differentfor instance a musical tune consisting of the same notes
we call a different tune if at one time it is played in the Dorian mode and at another in the Phrygian.
Therefore if this is the case, it is clear that we must speak of a state as being the same state chiefly with
regard to its constitution; and it is possible for it to be called by the same or by a different designation
both when its inhabitants are the same and when they are entirely different persons. But whether a
state is or is not bound in justice to discharge its engagements when it has changed to a different
constitution, is another subject. The next thing to consider after what has now been said is the question
whether we are to hold that the goodness of a good man is the same as that of a good citizen, or not the
same. However, if this point really is to receive investigation, we must first ascertain in some general
outline what constitutes the excellence of a citizen. [20] Now a citizen we pronounced to be one sort of
partner in a community, as is a sailor. And although sailors differ from each other in functionone is an
oarsman, another helmsman, another look-out man, and another has some other similar special
designationand so clearly the most exact definition of their excellence will be special to each, yet there
will also be a common definition of excellence that will apply alike to all of them; for security in
navigation is the business of them all, since each of the sailors aims at that. Similarly therefore with the
citizens, although they are dissimilar from one another, their business is the security of their community,
and this community is the constitution, so that the goodness of a citizen must necessarily be relative to
the constitution of the state. If therefore there are various forms of constitution, it is clear that there
cannot be one single goodness which is the perfect goodness of the good citizen; but when we speak of
a good man we mean that he possesses one single goodness, perfect goodness. Hence it is manifestly
possible to be a good citizen without possessing the goodness that constitutes a good man. Moreover it
is also feasible to pursue the same topic by raising the question in another manner in relation to the best
form of constitution. If it is impossible11 for a state to consist entirely of good men, and if it is necessary
for each person to perform well the work of his position, and to do this springs from goodness, then
because it is impossible for all the citizens to be alike, [1277a] [1] the goodness of a good citizen would
not be one and the same as the goodness of a good man; for all ought to possess the goodness of the
good citizen (that is a necessary condition of the state's being the best possible), but it is impossible that
all should possess the goodness of a good man, if it is not necessary that all the citizens in a good state
should be good men. Again, since the state consists of unlike personsjust as an animal (to take this
instance first) consists of soul and body, and a soul of reason and appetite, and a household of husband
and wife and [ownership involves]12 a master and slave, in the same manner a state consists of all of
these persons and also of others of different classes in addition to these,it necessarily follows that the
goodness of all the citizens is not one and the same, just as among dancers the skill of a head dancer is
not the same as that of a subordinate leader. It is clear then from these considerations that the goodness
of a good citizen and that of a good man are not the same in general; but will the goodness of a good
citizen of a particular sort be the same as that of a good man? Now we say that a good ruler is virtuous
and wise, and that a citizen taking part in politics must be wise. Also some people say that even the
education of a ruler must be different, as indeed we see that the sons of kings are educated in
horsemanship and military exercises, and Euripides says13 No subtleties for me, but what the state
Requireth [20] implying that there is a special education for a ruler. And if the goodness of a good
ruler is the same as the goodness of a good man, yet the person ruled is also a citizen, so that the
goodness of a citizen in general will not be the same as that of a man, although that of a particular
citizen will; for goodness as a ruler is not the same as goodness as a citizen, and no doubt this is the
reason why Jason14 said that when he was not tyrant he went hungry, meaning that he did not know the
art of being a private person. Another point is that we praise the ability to rule and to be ruled, and it is
doubtless held that the goodness of a citizen consists in ability both to rule and to be ruled well. If then
we lay it down that the goodness of the good man is displayed in ruling, whereas that of the citizen is
shown in both capacities, the two capacities cannot be equally laudable. Since therefore both views are
sometimes accepted, and it is thought that the ruler and the subject do not have to learn the same arts
but that the citizen must know both arts and share in both capacities, . . . .15 And it may be discerned
from the following illustration: one form of authority is that of a master; by this we mean the exercise of
authority in regard to the necessary work of the house, which it is not necessary for the master to know
how to execute, but rather how to utilize; the other capacity, I mean the ability actually to serve in these
menial tasks, is indeed a slave's quality. But we distinguish several kinds of slave, as their employments
are several. One department belongs to the handicraftsmen, who as their name implies are the persons
that live by their hands, [1277b] [1] a class that includes the mechanic artisan. Hence in some states
manual laborers were not admitted to office in old times, before the development of extreme
democracy. The tasks of those who are under this form of authority therefore it is not proper for the
good man or the man fit for citizenship or the good citizen to learn, except for his own private use
occasionally (for then it ceases to be a case of the one party being master and the other slave). But there
exists a form of authority by which a man rules over persons of the same race as himself, and free men
(for that is how we describe political authority), and this the ruler should learn by being ruled, just as a
man should command cavalry after having served as a trooper, command a regiment after having served
in a regiment and been in command of a company and of a platoon. Hence there is much truth in the
saying that it is impossible to become a good ruler without having been a subject. And although the
goodness of a ruler and that of a subject are different, the good citizen must have the knowledge and
the ability both to be ruled and to rule, and the merit of the good citizen consists in having a knowledge
of the government of free men on both sides. And therefore both these virtues are characteristic of a
good man, even if temperance and justice in a ruler are of a different kind from temperance and justice
in a subject; for clearly a good man's virtue, for example his justice, will not be one and the same when
he is under government and when he is free, but it will be of different kinds, [20] one fitting him to rule
and one to be ruled, just as temperance and courage are different in a man and in a woman (for a man
would be thought a coward if he were only as brave as a brave woman, and a woman a chatterer if she
were only as modest as a good man; since even the household functions of a man and of a woman are
differenthis business is to get and hers to keep). And practical wisdom alone of the virtues is a virtue
peculiar to a ruler; for the other virtues seem to be necessary alike for both subjects and rulers to
possess, but wisdom assuredly is not a subject's virtue, but only right opinion: the subject corresponds
to the man who makes flutes and the ruler to the flute-player who uses them. The question whether the
goodness of a good man is the same as that of a good citizen or different, and how they are the same
and how different, is clear from these considerations. But one of the difficulties as to what constitutes a
citizen is still left. Is it truly the case that a citizen is a person who has the right to share office in the
government, or are the working classes also to be counted citizens? If these persons also are to be
counted who have no share in offices, it is not possible for every citizen to possess the citizen's virtue; for
the true citizen is the man capable of governing.16 If on the other hand no one of the working people is
a citizen, in what class are the various workers to be ranked? for they are neither resident aliens nor
foreigners. Or shall we say that so far as that argument goes no inconsistency results? [1278a] [1] for
slaves also are not in one of the classes mentioned, nor are freedmen. For it is true that not all the
persons indispensable for the existence of a state are to be deemed citizens, since even the sons of
citizens are not citizens in the same sense as the adults: the latter are citizens in the full sense, the
former only by presumption17they are citizens, but incomplete ones. In ancient times in fact the
artisan class in some states consisted of slaves or aliens, owing to which the great mass of artisans are so
even now; and the best-ordered state will not make an artisan a citizen. While if even the artisan is a
citizen, then what we said to be the citizen's virtue must not be said to belong to every citizen, nor
merely be defined as the virtue of a free man, but will only belong to those who are released from
menial occupations. Among menial occupations those who render such services to an individual are
slaves, and those who do so for the community are artisans and hired laborers. The state of the case
about them will be manifest from what follows when we consider it a little further[, for what has been
said when made known itself makes it clear].18 As there are several forms of constitution, it follows that
there are several kinds of citizen, and especially of the citizen in a subject position; hence under one
form of constitution citizenship will necessarily extend to the artisan and the hired laborer, while under
other forms this is impossible, for instance in any constitution that is of the form entitled aristocratic and
in which [20] the honors are bestowed according to goodness and to merit, since a person living a life of
manual toil or as a hired laborer cannot practise the pursuits in which goodness is exercised. In
oligarchies on the other hand, though it is impossible for a hired laborer to be a citizen (since admission
to office of various grades is based on high property-assessments), it is possible for an artisan; for even
the general mass of the craftsmen are rich. At Thebes there was a law that no one who had not kept out
of trade for the last ten years might be admitted to office. But under many constitutions the law draws
recruits even from foreigners; for in some democracies the son of a citizen-mother is a citizen, and the
same rule holds good as to base-born sons in many places. Nevertheless, inasmuch as such persons are
adopted as citizens owing to a lack of citizens of legitimate birth (for legislation of this kind is resorted to
because of under-population), when a state becomes well off for numbers it gradually divests itself first
of the sons of a slave father or mother, then of those whose mothers only were citizens, and finally only
allows citizenship to the children of citizens on both sides. These facts then show that there are various
kinds of citizen, and that a citizen in the fullest sense means the man who shares in the honors of the
state, as is implied in the verse of Homer19: Like to some alien settler without honor, since a native
not admitted to a share in the public honors is like an alien domiciled in the land. But in some places this
exclusion is disguised, for the purpose of deceiving those who are a part of the population.20 The
answer therefore to the question, [1278b] [1] Is the goodness that makes a good man to be deemed the
same as that which makes a worthy citizen, or different? is now clear from what has been said in one
form of state the good man and the good citizen are the same, but in another they are different, and also
in the former case it is not every citizen but only the statesman, the man who controls or is competent to
control, singly or with colleagues, the administration of the commonwealth, that is essentially also a
good man. And since these points have been determined, the next question to be considered is whether
we are to lay it down that there is only one form of constitution or several, and if several, what they are
and how many and what are the differences between them. Now a constitution is the ordering of a state
in respect of its various magistracies, and especially the magistracy that is supreme over all matters. For
the government is everywhere supreme over the state and the constitution is the government. I mean
that in democratic states for example the people are supreme, but in oligarchies on the contrary the few
are; and we say that they have a different constitution. And we shall use the same language about the
other forms of government also. We have therefore to determine first the fundamental points, what is
the object for which a state exists and how many different kinds of system there are for governing
mankind and for controlling the common life. Now it has been said in our first discourses,21 in which we
determined the principles concerning household management and the control of slaves, that man is by
nature a political animal; [20] and so even when men have no need of assistance from each other they
none the less desire to live together. At the same time they are also brought together by common
interest, so far as each achieves a share of the good life. The good life then is the chief aim of society,
both collectively for all its members and individually; but they also come together and maintain the
political partnership for the sake of life merely, for doubtless there is some element of value contained
even in the mere state of being alive, provided that there is not too great an excess on the side of the
hardships of life, and it is clear that the mass of mankind cling to life at the cost of enduring much
suffering, which shows that life contains some measure of well-being and of sweetness in its essential
nature. And again, the several recognized varieties of government can easily be defined; in fact we
frequently discuss them in our external discourses.22 The authority of a master over a slave, although in
truth when both master and slave are designed by nature for their positions their interests are the same,
nevertheless governs in the greater degree with a view to the interest of the master, but incidentally
with a view to that of the slave, for if the slave deteriorates the position of the master cannot be saved
from injury. Authority over children and wife [and over the whole household, which we call the art of
household management23] is exercised either in the interest of those ruled or for some common
interest of both parties,essentially, in the interest of the ruled, as we see that the other arts also,
[1279a] [1] like medicine and athletic training, are pursued in the interest of the persons upon whom
they are practised, although incidentally they may also be in the interest of the practitioners themselves;
for nothing prevents the trainer from being on occasions himself also one of the persons in training, just
as the pilot is always a member of the crew; so although the trainer or pilot studies the good of those
under his authority, when he himself also becomes one among them he incidentally shares the benefit,
for the pilot is a sailor in the ship and the trainer can become one of the persons in training under his
own direction. Hence in regard to the political offices also, when the state is constituted on the principle
of equality and of similarity between the citizens, these claim to hold office by turnin earlier times,
under the natural system, claiming to do public services in turn, and for somebody in return to look after
their own welfare just as previously they looked after his interest when in office themselves; but
nowadays owing to the benefits to be got from public sources and from holding office people wish to be
in office continuously, just as if it were the case that those in office although sickly people always
enjoyed good healthin which case office would no doubt be much run after by invalids. It is clear then
that those constitutions that aim at the common advantage are in effect rightly framed in accordance
with absolute justice, while those that aim at the rulers' own advantage only are faulty, [20] and are all
of them deviations from the right constitutions; for they have an element of despotism, whereas a city is
a partnership of free men. These matters having been determined the next step is to consider how
many forms of constitution there are and what they are; and first to study the right forms of
constitution, since the deviations will also become manifest when these are defined. But inasmuch as
constitution means the same as government, and the government is the supreme power in the state,
and this must be either a single ruler or a few or the mass of the citizens, in cases when the one or the
few or the many govern with an eye to the common interest, these constitutions must necessarily be
right ones, while those administered with an eye to the private interest of either the one or the few or
the multitude are deviations. For either we must not say that those who are part of the state are citizens,
or those who are part of the state must share in the advantage of membership. Our customary
designation for a monarchy that aims at the common advantage is kingship; for a government of more
than one yet only a few aristocracy (either because the best men rule or because they rule with a view
to what is best for the state and for its members); while when the multitude govern the state with a view
to the common advantage, it is called by the name common to all the forms of constitution,
constitutional government. (And this comes about reasonably, since although it is possible for one man
or a few to excel in virtue, when the number is larger it becomes difficult for them to possess perfect
excellence in respect of every form of virtue, [1279b] [1] but they can best excel in military valor, for this
is found with numbers; and therefore with this form of constitution the class that fights for the state in
war is the most powerful, and it is those who possess arms who are admitted to the government.)
Deviations from the constitutions mentioned are tyranny corresponding to kingship, oligarchy to
aristocracy, and democracy to constitutional government; for tyranny is monarchy ruling in the interest
of the monarch, oligarchy government in the interest of the rich, democracy government in the interest
of the poor, and none of these forms governs with regard to the profit of the community. But it is
necessary to say at a little greater length what each of these constitutions is; for the question involves
certain difficulties, and it is the special mark of one who studies any subject philosophically, and not
solely with regard to its practical aspect, that he does not overlook or omit any point, but brings to light
the truth about each. Now tyranny, as has been said, is monarchy exerting despotic power over the
political community; oligarchy is when the control of the government is in the hands of those that own
the properties; democracy is when on the contrary it is in the hands of those that do not possess much
property, but are poor. [20] A first difficulty is with regard to the definition. If the majority of the citizens
were wealthy and were in control of the state, yet when the multitude is in power it is a democracy, and
similarly, to take the other case, if it were to occur somewhere that the poor were fewer than the rich
but were stronger than they and accordingly were in control of the government, yet where a small
number is in control it is said to be an oligarchy, then it would seem that our definition of the forms of
constitution was not a good one.24 And once again, if one assumed the combination of small numbers
with wealth and of multitude with poverty, and named the constitutions thusone in which the rich
being few in number hold the offices, oligarchy: one in which the poor being many in number hold the
offices, democracy,this involves another difficulty. What names are we to give to the constitutions just
describedthe one in which there are more rich and the one in which the poor are the fewer, and these
control their respective governmentsif there exists no other form of constitution beside those
mentioned? The argument therefore seems to make it clear that for few or many to have power is an
accidental feature of oligarchies in the one case and democracies in the other, due to the fact that the
rich are few and the poor are many everywhere (so that it is not really the case that the points
mentioned constitute a specific difference), but that the real thing in which democracy and oligarchy
differ from each other is poverty and wealth; [1280a] [1] and it necessarily follows that wherever the
rulers owe their power to wealth, whether they be a minority or a majority, this is an oligarchy, and
when the poor rule, it is a democracy, although it does accidentally happen, as we said, that where the
rulers hold power by wealth they are few and where they hold power by poverty they are many, because
few men are rich but all men possess freedom, and wealth and freedom are the grounds on which the
two classes lay claim to the government. And first we must ascertain what are stated to be the
determining qualities of oligarchy and democracy, and what is the principle of justice under the one form
of government and under the other. For all men lay hold on justice of some sort, but they only advance
to a certain point, and do not express the principle of absolute justice in its entirety. For instance, it is
thought that justice is equality, and so it is, though not for everybody but only for those who are equals;
and it is thought that inequality is just, for so indeed it is, though not for everybody, but for those who
are unequal; but these partisans strip away the qualification of the persons concerned, and judge badly.
And the cause of this is that they are themselves concerned in the decision, and perhaps most men are
bad judges when their own interests are in question. Hence inasmuch as just means just for certain
persons, and it is divided in the same way in relation to the things to be distributed and the persons that
receive them, as has been said before in the Ethics,25 the two parties agree as to what constitutes
equality in the thing, but dispute as to what constitutes equality in the person, [20] chiefly for the reason
just now stated, because men are bad judges where they themselves are concerned, but also, inasmuch
as both parties put forward a plea that is just up to a certain point, they think that what they say is
absolutely just. For the one side think that if they are unequal in some respects, for instance in wealth,
they are entirely unequal, and the other side think that if they are equal in some respects, for instance in
freedom, they are entirely equal. But the most important thing they do not mention. If men formed the
community and came together for the sake of wealth, their share in the state is proportionate to their
share in the property, so that the argument of the champions of oligarchy would appear to be valid
namely that in a partnership with a capital of 100 minae26 it would not be just for the man who
contributed one mina to have a share whether of the principal or of the profits accruing equal to the
share of the man who supplied the whole of the remainder; but if on the other hand the state was
formed not for the sake of life only but rather for the good life (for otherwise a collection of slaves or of
lower animals would be a state, but as it is, it is not a state, because slaves27 and animals have no share
in well-being or in purposive life), and if its object is not military alliance for defence against injury by
anybody, and it does not exist for the sake of trade and of business relations28for if so, Etruscans and
Carthaginians and all the people that have commercial relations with one another would be virtually
citizens of a single state; at all events they have agreements about imports and covenants as to
abstaining from dishonesty and treaties of alliance for mutual defence; [1280b] [1] but they do not have
officials common to them all appointed to enforce these covenants, but different officials with either
party, nor yet does either party take any concern as to the proper moral character of the other, nor
attempt to secure that nobody in the states under the covenant shall be dishonest or in any way
immoral, but only that they shall not commit any wrong against each other. All those on the other hand
who are concerned about good government do take civic virtue and vice into their purview. Thus it is
also clear that any state that is truly so called and is not a state merely in name must pay attention to
virtue; for otherwise the community becomes merely an alliance, differing only in locality from the other
alliances, those of allies that live apart. And the law is a covenant or, in the phrase of the sophist
Lycophron,29 a guarantee of men's just claims on one another, but it is not designed to make the citizens
virtuous and just. And that this is how the matter stands is manifest. For if one were actually to bring the
sites of two cities together into one, so that the city-walls of Megara and those of Corinth were
contiguous, even so they would not be one city; nor would they if they enacted rights of intermarriage
with each other, although intermarriage between citizens is one of the elements of community which
are characteristic of states. And similarly even if certain people lived in separate places yet not so far
apart as not to have intercourse, but had laws to prevent their wronging one another [20] in their
interchange of products for instance, if one man were a carpenter, another a farmer, another a
shoemaker and another something else of the kind,and the whole population numbered ten
thousand, but nevertheless they had no mutual dealings in anything else except such things as exchange
of commodities and military alliance, even then this would still not be a state. What then exactly is the
reason for this? for clearly it is not because their intercourse is from a distance since even if they came
together for intercourse of this sort (each nevertheless using his individual house as a city) and for one
another's military aid against wrongful aggressors only, as under a defensive alliance, not even then
would they seem to those who consider the matter carefully to constitute a state, if they associated on
the same footing when they came together as they did when they were apart. It is manifest therefore
that a state is not merely the sharing of a common locality for the purpose of preventing mutual injury
and exchanging goods. These are necessary preconditions of a state's existence, yet nevertheless, even if
all these conditions are present, that does not therefore make a state, but a state is a partnership of
families and of clans in living well, and its object is a full and independent life. At the same time this will
not be realized unless the partners do inhabit one and the same locality and practise intermarriage; this
indeed is the reason why family relationships have arisen throughout the states, and brotherhoods and
clubs for sacrificial rites and social recreations. But such organization is produced by the feeling of
friendship, for friendship is the motive of social life; therefore, while the object of a state is the good life,
these things are means to that end. And a state is the partnership of clans and villages in a full and
independent life, [1281a] [1] which in our view constitutes a happy and noble life; the political fellowship
must therefore be deemed to exist for the sake of noble actions, not merely for living in common. Hence
those who contribute most to such fellowship have a larger part in the state than those who are their
equals or superiors in freedom and birth but not their equals in civic virtue, or than those who surpass
them in wealth but are surpassed by them in virtue. It is therefore clear from what has been said that all
those who dispute about the forms of constitution assert a part of the just principle. But it is a matter of
question what ought to be the sovereign power in the state. Clearly it must be either the multitude, or
the rich, or the good, or the one man who is best of all, or a tyrant. But all of these arrangements appear
to involve disagreeable consequences. For instance, if the poor take advantage of their greater numbers
to divide up the property of the rich, is not this unjust? No, it may be said, for it was a resolution made
by the supreme authority in just form. Then what must be pronounced to be the extreme of injustice?
And again, when everybody is taken into account, suppose the majority share out among themselves the
property of the minority, it is manifest that they are destroying the state; but assuredly virtue does not
destroy [20] its possessor, and justice is not destructive of the state, so that it is clear that this principle
also cannot be just. Also it follows from it that all the actions done by a tyrant are just, for his use of
force is based upon superior strength, as is the compulsion exerted by the multitude against the rich. But
is it just that the minority and the rich should rule? Suppose therefore they also act in the same way and
plunder and take away the property of the multitude, is this just? If it is, so also is the plunder of the rich
by the multitude. It is clear therefore that all these things are bad and not just. But ought the good to
rule, and be in control of all classes? If so, then it follows that all the other classes will be dishonored,30
if they are not honored by holding the offices of government; for we speak of offices as honors, and if
the same persons are always in office the rest must necessarily be excluded from honor. But is it better
for the most virtuous individual to be the ruler? But that is still more oligarchical, for the people
excluded from honor will be more numerous. But perhaps some one would say that in any case it is a
bad thing for a human being, having in his soul the passions that are the attributes of humanity, to be
sovereign, and not the law. Suppose therefore that law is sovereign, but law of an oligarchic or
democratic nature, what difference will it make as regards the difficulties that have been raised? for the
results described before will come about just the same. Most of these points therefore must be
discussed on another occasion; but the view that it is more proper for the multitude to be sovereign
than the few of greatest virtue might be thought to be explicable and to have some justification, and
even to be the true view. For it is possible that the many, though not individually good men, [1281b] [1]
yet when they come together may be better, not individually but collectively, than those who are so, just
as public dinners to which many contribute are better than those supplied at one man's cost; for where
there are many, each individual, it may be argued, has some portion of virtue and wisdom, and when
they have come together, just as the multitude becomes a single man with many feet and many hands
and many senses, so also it becomes one personality as regards the moral and intellectual faculties. This
is why the general public is a better judge of the works of music and those of the poets, because
different men can judge a different part of the performance, and all of them all of it. But the superiority
of good men over the mass of men individually, like that of handsome men, so it is said, over plain men
and of the works of the painter's art over the real objects, really consists in this, that a number of
scattered good points have been collected together into one example; since if the features be taken
separately, the eye of one real person is more beautiful than that of the man in the picture, and some
other feature of somebody else. It is not indeed clear whether this collective superiority of the many
compared with the few good men can possibly exist in regard to every democracy and every multitude,
and perhaps it may be urged that it is manifestly impossible in the case of somefor the same argument
would also apply to animals, yet what difference is there, [20] practically, between some multitudes and
animals?but nothing prevents what has been said from being true about some particular multitude.
One might therefore employ these considerations to solve not only the previously stated difficulty but
also the related question, over what matters is the authority of the freemen, the mass of the citizens, to
extend (using that expression to denote those who are not rich nor possessed of any distinguishing
excellence at all)? For it is not safe for them to participate in the highest offices (for injustice and folly
would inevitably cause them to act unjustly in some things and to make mistakes in others), but yet not
to admit them and for them not to participate is an alarming situation, for when there are a number of
persons without political honors and in poverty, the city then is bound to be full of enemies. It remains
therefore for them to share the deliberative and judicial functions. For this reason Solon and certain
other lawgivers appoint the common citizens to31 the election of the magistrates and the function of
calling them to audit, although they do not allow them to hold office singly. For all when assembled
together have sufficient discernment, and by mingling with the better class are of benefit to the state,
just as impure food mixed with what is pure makes the whole more nourishing than the small amount of
pure food alone; but separately the individual is immature in judgement. This arrangement of the
constitution is however open to question in the first place on the ground that it might be held that the
best man to judge which physician has given the right treatment is the man that is himself capable of
treating and curing the patient of his present disease, and this is the man who is himself a physician;
[1282a] [1] and that this is the case similarly with regard to the other arts and crafts. Hence just as a
court of physicians must judge the work of a physician, so also all other practitioners ought to be called
to account before their fellows. But physician means both the ordinary practitioner, and the master of
the craft, and thirdly, the man who has studied medicine as part of his general education (for in almost
all the arts there are some such students, and we assign the right of judgement just as much to
cultivated amateurs as to experts). Further the same might be thought to hold good also of the election
of officials, for to elect rightly is a task for expertsfor example, it is for experts in the science of
mensuration to elect a land-surveyor and for experts in navigation to choose a pilot; for even though in
some occupations and arts some laymen also have a voice in appointments, yet they certainly do not
have more voice than the experts. Hence according to this argument the masses should not be put in
control over either the election of magistrates or their audit. But perhaps this statement is not entirely
correct, both for the reason stated above,32 in case the populace is not of too slavish a character (for
although each individual separately will be a worse judge than the experts, the whole of them
assembled together will be better or at least as good judges), and also because about some things the
man who made them would not be the only nor the best judge, in the case of professionals whose
products come within the knowledge of laymen also: [20] to judge a house, for instance, does not belong
only to the man who built it, but in fact the man who uses the house (that is, the householder) will be an
even better judge of it, and a steersman judges a rudder better than a carpenter, and the diner judges a
banquet better than the cook. This difficulty then might perhaps be thought to be satisfactorily solved in
this way. But there is another connected with it: it is thought to be absurd that the base should be in
control over more important matters than the respectable; but the audits and the elections of
magistrates are a very important matter, yet in some constitutions, as has been said, they are assigned to
the common people, for all such matters are under the control of the assembly, yet persons of a low
property-assessment and of any age take part in the assembly and the council and sit on juries, whereas
treasury officials, generals and the holders of the highest magistracies are drawn from among persons of
large property. Now this difficulty also may be solved in a similar way; for perhaps these regulations also
are sound, since it is not the individual juryman or councillor or member of the assembly in whom
authority rests, but the court, the council and the people, while each of the individuals named (I mean
the councillor, the members of assembly and the juryman) is a part of those bodies. Hence justly the
multitude is sovereign in greater matters, for the popular assembly, the council and the jury-court are
formed of a number of people, and also the assessed property of all these members collectively is more
than that of the magistrates holding great offices individually or in small groups. Let these points
therefore be decided in this manner. [1282b] [1] But the difficulty first mentioned33 proves nothing else
so clearly as that it is proper for the laws when rightly laid down to be sovereign, while the ruler or rulers
in office should have supreme powers over matters as to which the laws are quite unable to pronounce
with precision because of the difficulty of making a general rule to cover all cases. We have not however
yet ascertained at all what particular character a code of laws correctly laid down ought to possess, but
the difficulty raised at the start34 still remains;35 for necessarily the laws are good or bad, just or unjust,
simultaneously with and similarly to the constitutions of states (though of course it is obvious that the
laws are bound to be adapted to the constitution); yet if so, it is clear that the laws in conformity with
the right constitutions must necessarily be just and those in conformity with the divergent36 forms of
constitution unjust. 37And inasmuch as in all the sciences and arts the End is a good, and the greatest
good and good in the highest degree in the most authoritative of all, which is the political faculty, and
the good in the political field, that is, the general advantage, is justice, it is therefore thought by all men
that justice is some sort of equality, and up to a certain point at all events they agree with the
philosophical discourses in which [20] conclusions have been reached about questions of ethics38; for
justice is a quality of a thing in relation to persons,39 and they hold that for persons that are equal the
thing must be equal. But equality in what characteristics does this mean, and inequality in what? This
must be made clear, since this too raises a difficulty, and calls for political philosophy. For perhaps
someone might say that the offices of state ought to be distributed unequally according to superiority in
every good quality, even if the candidates in all other respects did not differ at all but were exactly alike,
because men that are different40 have different rights and merits. Yet if this is true, those who are
superior in complexion or stature or any good quality will have an advantage in respect of political rights.
But surely the error here is obvious, and it comes out clearly if we consider the other sciences and
faculties. Among flute-players equally good at their art it is not proper to give an advantage in respect of
the flutes to those of better birth, for they will not play any better, but it is the superior performers who
ought to be given the superior instruments. And if our meaning is not yet plain, it will become still
clearer when we have carried the matter further. Suppose someone is superior in playing the flute but
much inferior in birth or in good looks, then, even granting that each of these thingsbirth and beauty
is a greater good than ability to play the flute, and even though they surpass flute-playing
proportionately more than the best flute-player surpasses the others in flute-playing, even so the best
flute-player ought to be given the outstandingly good flutes; [1283a] [1] for otherwise superiority both in
wealth and in birth ought to contribute to the excellence of the performance, but they do not do so at
all. Moreover on this theory every good thing would be commensurable with every other. For if to be of
some particular height gave more claim, then height in general would be in competition with wealth and
with free birth; therefore if A excels in height more than B does in virtue, and speaking generally size
gives more superiority than virtue,41 all things would be commensurable for; if such-and-such an
amount of one thing is better than such-and-such an amount of another, it is clear that such-and-such an
amount of the one is equal to that amount of another. But since this is impossible, it is clear that in
politics with good reason men do not claim a right to office on the ground of inequality of every kindif
one set of men are slow runners and another fast, this is no good ground for the one set having more
and the other less42 political power, but the latter's superiority receives its honor in athletic contests;
but the claim to office must necessarily be based on superiority in those things which go to the making
of the state. Hence it is reasonable for the well-born, free and wealthy to lay claim to honor; for there
must be free men and tax-payers, since a state consisting entirely of poor men would not be a state, any
more than one consisting of slaves. But then, granting there is need of these, it is clear that [20] there is
also need of justice and civic virtue, for these are also indispensable in the administration of a state;
except that wealth and freedom are indispensable for a state's existence, whereas justice and civic virtue
are indispensable for its good administration. As a means therefore towards a state's existence all or at
all events some of these factors would seem to make a good claim, although as means to a good life
education and virtue would make the most just claim, as has been said also before. On the other hand
since those who are equal in one thing only ought not to have equality in all things nor those unequal as
regards one thing inequality in all, it follows that all these forms of constitution must be deviations. Now
it has been said before that all make a claim that is in a manner just, though not all a claim that is
absolutely just; the rich claiming because they have a larger share of the land, and the land is common
property, and also as being for the most part more faithful to their covenants; the free and well-born as
being closely connected together (for the better-born are citizens to a greater degree than those of
claims, low birth, and good birth is in every community held in honor at home), and also because it is
probable that the children of better parents will be better, for good birth means goodness of breed; and
we shall admit that virtue also makes an equally just claim, for we hold that justice is social virtue, which
necessarily brings all the other virtues in its train; but moreover the majority have a just claim as
compared with the minority, since they are stronger and richer and better if their superior numbers are
taken in comparison with the others' inferior numbers. Therefore supposing all were in one city, [1283b]
[1] I mean, that is, the good and the wealthy and noble and also an additional mass of citizens, will there
be a dispute, or will there not, as to who ought to govern? It is true that under each of the forms of
constitution that have been mentioned the decision as to who ought to govern is undisputed (for the
difference between them lies in their sovereign classesone is distinguished by being governed by the
rich men, one by being governed by the good men, and similarly each of the others); but nevertheless
we are considering the question how we are to decide between these classes supposing that they all
exist in the state at the same period. If then the possessors of virtue should be quite few in number,
how is the decision to be made? ought we to consider their fewness in relation to the task, and whether
they are able to administer the state, or sufficiently numerous to constitute a state? And there is some
difficulty as regards all the rival claimants to political honors. Those who claim to rule because of their
wealth might seem to have no justice in their proposal, and similarly also those who claim on the score
of birth; for it is clear that if, to go a step further, a single individual is richer than all the others together,
according to the same principle of justice it will obviously be right for this one man to rule over all, and
similarly the man of outstanding nobility among the claimants [20] on the score of free birth. And this
same thing will perhaps result in the case of aristocratic government based on virtue; for if there be
some one man who is better than the other virtuous men in the state, by the same principle of justice
that man must be sovereign. Accordingly if it is actually proper for the multitude to be sovereign because
they are better than the few, then also, if one person or if more than one but fewer than the many are
better than the rest, it would be proper for these rather than the multitude to be sovereign. All these
considerations therefore seem to prove the incorrectness of all of the standards on which men claim
that they themselves shall govern and everybody else be governed by them. For surely even against
those who claim to be sovereign over the government on account of virtue, and similarly against those
who claim on account of wealth, the multitudes might be able to advance a just plea; for it is quite
possible that at some time the multitude may be collectively better and richer than the few, although
not individually. Hence it is also possible to meet in this way the question which some persons
investigate and put forward (for some raise the question whether the legislator desiring to lay down the
rightest laws should legislate with a view to the advantage of the better people or that of the larger
number) in cases when the situation mentioned43 occurs. And right must be taken in the sense of
equally right, and this means right in regard to the interest of the whole state and in regard to the
common welfare of the citizens; and a citizen is in general one who shares in governing and being
governed, [1284a] [1] although he is different according to each form of constitution, but in relation to
the best form a citizen is one who has the capacity and the will to be governed and to govern with a view
to the life in accordance with virtue. But if there is any one man so greatly distinguished in outstanding
virtue, or more than one but not enough to be able to make up a complete state, so that the virtue of all
the rest and their political ability is not comparable with that of the men mentioned, if they are several,
or if one, with his alone, it is no longer proper to count these exceptional men a part of the state; for
they will be treated unjustly if deemed worthy of equal status, being so widely unequal in virtue and in
their political ability: since such a man will naturally be as a god among men. Hence it is clear that
legislation also must necessarily be concerned with persons who are equal in birth and in ability, but
there can be no law dealing with such men as those described, for they are themselves a law; indeed a
man would be ridiculous if he tried to legislate for them, for probably they would say what in the story of
Antisthenes44 the lions said45 when the hares made speeches in the assembly and demanded that all
should have equality. This is why democratically governed states institute the system of ostracism,
because of a reason of this nature; for these are the states considered to pursue equality most of all
things, [20] so that they used to ostracize men thought to be outstandingly powerful on account of
wealth or popularity or some other form of political strength, and used to banish them out of the city for
fixed periods of time. And there is a mythical story that the Argonauts left Heracles behind for a similar
reason; for the Argo46 refused to carry him with the others because he was so much heavier than the
sailors. Hence also those who blame tyranny and Periander's advice to Thrasybulus47 must not be
thought to be absolutely right in their censure (the story is that Periander made no reply to the herald
sent to ask his advice, but levelled the corn-field by plucking off the ears that stood out above the rest;
and consequently, although the herald did not know the reason for what was going on, when he carried
back news of what had occurred, Thrasybulus understood that he was to destroy the outstanding
citizens); for this policy is advantageous not only for tyrants, nor is it only tyrants that use it, but the
same is the case with oligarchies and democracies as well; for ostracism has in a way the same effect as
docking off the outstanding men by exile. And the same course is adopted in regard to cities and races by
the holders of sovereign power, for example the Athenians so dealt with the Samians and Chians and
Lesbians48 (for no sooner did they get a strong hold of their empire than they humbled them in
contravention of their covenants), [1284b] [1] and the king of the Persians frequently used to cut down
the numbers of the Medes and Babylonians and the other races that had waxed proud because they had
once been head of an empire. And the problem applies universally to all the forms of constitution, even
the right forms; for while the divergent forms of government do this because their regard is fixed on
their private advantage, nevertheless with the constitutions directed to the common good the same is
the case. And this is also clear in the field of the other arts and sciences; a painter would not let his
animal have its foot of disproportionately large size, even though it was an exceptionally beautiful foot,
nor would a shipbuilder make the stern or some other part of a ship disproportionately big, nor yet will a
trainer of choruses allow a man who sings louder and more beautifully than the whole band to be a
member of it. Hence as far as this practice goes nothing prevents monarchs from being in harmony with
the cities they rule, if they resort to it when their own personal rule is beneficial to the cities. Therefore
in relation to acknowledged superiorities the argument for ostracism has a certain element of political
justice. True, it is better for the lawgiver so to constitute the state at the outset that it does not need this
medicine; but the next best course to steer, if occasion arises, is to endeavor to correct [20] the
constitution by some such method of rectification. But this was not what happened with the states, for
they were not looking at what was advantageous for their proper constitution, but their acts of ostracism
were done in a revolutionary spirit. In the divergent forms of constitution therefore it is evident that
ostracism is advantageous and just under the special constitution, though perhaps it is also evident that
it is not49 just absolutely; but in the case of the best constitution there is much doubt as to what ought
to be done, not as regards superiority in the other things of value, such as strength and wealth and
popularity, but in the case of a person becoming exceptionally distinguished for virtue. It certainly would
not be said that such a man must be banished and got out of the way; yet nevertheless no doubt men
would not think that they ought to rule over such a man, for that would be the same as if they claimed
to rule over Zeus, dividing up his spheres of government. It remains therefore, and this seems to be the
natural course, for all to obey such a man gladly, so that men of this sort may be kings in the cities for all
time. And perhaps it is well after the subjects that have been discussed to pass over to consider royal
government; for we pronounce this to be one of the correct constitutions. And it has to be considered
whether it is advantageous for a city or a country that is to be well administered to be ruled by a king, or
whether it is not so but some other constitution is more expedient, or whether royal rule is expedient for
some states and not for others. But it is needful to decide first whether there is only one sort of kingship
or whether it has several varieties. [1285a] [1] Now it is at all events easy to discern that kingship
includes several kinds, and that the mode of government is not the same in all. For the kingship in the
Spartan constitution, which is held to be a typical royalty of the kind guided by law, does not carry
sovereignty in all matters, though when a king goes on a foreign expedition he is the leader in all matters
relating to the war; and also matters relating to religion have been assigned to the kings. This kingship
therefore is a sort of military command vested in generals with absolute powers and held for life; for the
king has not authority to put a subject to death, except [in a certain reign]50 as in ancient times kings on
their military expeditions could kill an offender out of hand, as Homer proves, for Agamemnon endured
being reviled in the assemblies but when they were on an expedition had authority to put a man to
death: at all events he says But whomsoe'er I see far from the fray . . . Shall have no hope to fly from
dogs and vultures, For death is in my hands!51 This then is one sort of kingship, a lifelong generalship,
and some of the kingships of this kind are hereditary, others elective; and by its side there is another sort
of monarchy, examples of which are kingships existing among some of the barbarians. The power
possessed by all of these resembles that of tyrannies, but they govern according to law and are
hereditary; [20] for because the barbarians are more servile in their nature than the Greeks, and the
Asiatics than the Europeans, they endure despotic rule without any resentment. These kingships
therefore are for these reasons of a tyrannical nature, but they are secure because they are hereditary
and rule by law. Also their bodyguard is of a royal and not a tyrannical type for the same reason; for
kings are guarded by the citizens in arms, whereas tyrants have foreign guards, for kings rule in
accordance with law and over willing subjects, but tyrants rule over unwilling subjects, owing to which
kings take their guards from among the citizens but tyrants have them to guard against the citizens.
These then are two kinds of monarchy; while another is that which existed among the ancient Greeks,
the type of rulers called aesymnetae. This, to put it simply, is an elective tyranny, and it differs from the
monarchy that exists among barbarians not in governing without the guidance of law but only in not
being hereditary. Some holders of this type of monarchy ruled for life, others until certain fixed limits of
time or until certain undertakings were ended, as for example the people of Mitylene once elected
Pittacus to resist the exiles under the leadership of Antimenides and the poet Alcaeus. That they elected
Pittacus52 as tyrant is proved by Alcaeus in one of his catches; for he rebukes the people because The
base-born Pittacus they did set up As tyrant of the meek and luckless city, And all did greatly praise him.
[1285b] [1] These monarchies therefore now and in the past are of the nature of tyrannies because
they are autocratic, but of the nature of kingships because they are elective and rule over willing
subjects. A fourth class of royal monarchy consists of the hereditary legal kingships over willing subjects
in the heroic period. For because the first of the line had been benefactors of the multitude in the arts or
in war, or through having drawn them together or provided them with land, these kings used to come to
the throne with the consent of the subjects and hand it on to their successors by lineal descent. And
they had supreme command in war and control over all sacrifices that were not in the hands of the
priestly class, and in addition to these functions they were judges in law-suits; some gave judgement not
on oath and some on oaththe oath was taken by holding up the sceptre.53 These kings then of ancient
times used to govern continuously in matters within the city and in the country and across the frontiers;
but later on when gradually the kings relinquished some of their powers and had others taken from
them by the multitudes, in the cities in general only the sacrifices were left to the kings,54 while where
anything that deserves the name of royalty survived the kings only had the command in military
expeditions across the frontiers. [20] There are then these kinds of kingship, four in number: one
belonging to the heroic times, which was exercised over willing subjects, but in certain limited fields, for
the king was general and judge and master of religious ceremonies; second, the barbarian monarchy,
which is an hereditary despotism governing in conformity with law; third, the rule of the functionary
called an aesymnetes, which is an elective tyranny; and fourth among these is the Spartan kingship,
which may be described simply as an hereditary generalship held for life. These kingships then differ
from one another in this manner. But a fifth kind of kingship is when a single ruler is sovereign over all
matters in the way in which each race and each city is sovereign over its common affairs; this monarchy
ranges with the rule of a master over a household, for just as the master's rule is a sort of monarchy in
the home, so absolute monarchy is domestic mastership over a city, or over a race or several races.
There are therefore, we may say, virtually two kinds of kingship that have been examined, this one and
the Spartan. For most of the others lie between these, since with them the king is sovereign over fewer
things than under absolute monarchy, but over more than under the Spartan kingship. Hence our inquiry
is virtually about two questions, one whether it is expedient or inexpedient for states to have a military
commander holding office for life, and that either by descent or by class,55 [1286a] [1] and one whether
it is expedient or inexpedient for one man to be sovereign over everything. Now the study of a military
command of the kind mentioned has more the aspect of a legal than of a constitutional inquiry (for it is
possible for this form of office to exist under all constitutions), so let it be dismissed at the first stage56;
but the remaining mode of kingship is a kind of constitution, so that it is necessary to consider this one
and to run over the difficulties that it involves. And the starting-point of the inquiry is the question
whether it is more advantageous to be ruled by the best men or by the best laws. Those of the opinion
that it is advantageous to be governed by a king think that laws enunciate only general principles but do
not give directions for dealing with circumstances as they arise; so that in an art of any kind it is foolish
to govern procedure by written rules (and indeed in Egypt physicians have the right to alter their
prescription after four days, although if one of them alters it before he does so at his own risk); it is clear
therefore that government according to written rules, that is laws, is not the best, for the same reason.
At the same time, however, rulers ought to be in possession of the general principle before mentioned as
well. And a thing that does not contain the emotional element is generally superior to a thing in which it
is innate; now the law does not possess this factor, but every human soul [20] necessarily has it. But
perhaps someone might say that in compensation for this a single ruler will decide better about
particular cases. Therefore it is clear that on the one hand the ruler must necessarily be a legislator, and
that there must or be laws laid down, although these must not be sovereign57 where they go astray
admittedly in all other cases they ought to be sovereign; but on the other hand in matters which it is
impossible for the law either to decide at all or to decide well, ought the one best man to govern or all
the citizens? As it is, the citizens assembled hear lawsuits and deliberate and give judgements, but these
judgements are all on particular cases. Now no doubt any one of them individually is inferior compared
with the best man, but a state consists of a number of individuals, and just as a banquet to which many
contribute dishes is finer than a single plain dinner, for this reason in many cases a crowd judges better
than any single person. Also the multitude is more incorruptiblejust as the larger stream of water is
purer, so the mass of citizens is less corruptible than the few; and the individual's judgement is bound to
be corrupted when he is overcome by anger or some other such emotion, whereas in the other case it is
a difficult thing for all the people to be roused to anger and go wrong together. But the multitude must
consist of the freemen, doing nothing apart from the law except about matters as to which the law must
of necessity be deficient. And if this is not indeed easy to ensure in the case of many men, yet if there
were a majority of good men and good citizens, would an individual make a more incorruptible ruler or
rather those who though the majority in number yet are all good? [1286b] [1] The majority, is it not
obvious? But it will be said that they will split up into factions, whereas with a single ruler this cannot
happen. But against this must perhaps be set the fact that they are as virtuous in soul as the single ruler.
If then the rule of the majority when these are all good men is to be considered an aristocracy, and that
of the one man kingship, aristocracy would be preferable for the states to kingship, whether the royal
office be conjoined with military force or without it, if it be possible to get a larger number of men than
one who are of similar quality. And it was perhaps only owing to this that kingships existed in earlier
times, because it was rare to find men who greatly excelled in virtue, especially as in those days they
dwelt in small cities. Moreover they used to appoint their kings on the ground of public service, and to
perform this is a task for the good men. But as it began to come about that many men arose who were
alike in respect of virtue, they would no longer submit to royalty, but sought for some form of
commonwealth, and set up a republican constitution. And as men becoming baser began to make
money out of the community, it is reasonable to suppose that some such cause as this occasioned the
rise of oligarchies; for they brought wealth into honor. And from oligarchies they first changed to
tyrannies, and from tyrannies to democracy; for by constantly bringing the government into fewer hands
owing to a base love of gain, they made the multitude stronger,58 so that it set upon the oligarchs, and
democracies came into existence. [20] But now that the states have come to be even greater than they
were, perhaps it is not easy for yet another form of constitution beside democracy to come into
existence. And even if one held that royal government is best for states, what is to be the position as
regards the king's children? is the sovereignty to be hereditary? But this will be disastrous if the king's
sons turn out to be like what some have been. It may be said that the king being sovereign will not in
that case bequeath the throne to his children. But that is too much to be easy to believe: it would be
difficult for a king to disinherit his sons, and an act of virtue above the level of human nature. And there
is a difficulty also about the royal power: ought the man who is to reign as king to force to have an
armed force about him, by means of which he will have power to compel those who may be unwilling to
obey, or if not, how is it possible for him to administer his office? For even if he were a law-abiding
sovereign and never acted according to his own will against the law, nevertheless it would be essential
for him to have power behind him whereby to safeguard the laws. Probably therefore it is not difficult to
define the regulations for a king of this sort: he must have a force of his own, but the force must be only
so large as to be stronger than a single individual or even several individuals banded together, but
weaker than the multitude, on the principle on which the men of old times used to assign bodyguards
whenever they appointed somebody as what they termed aesymnetes or tyrant59 of the state, and also,
when Dionysius60 asked for his guards, somebody advised him to give the same number of guards to the
citizens of Syracuse. [1287a] [1] Our discussion has now reached the case of the king who acts in all
matters according to his own will, and we must examine this type of royalty. For the so-called
constitutional monarchy, as we said,61 is not a special kind of constitution (since it is possible for a life-
long generalship to exist under all constitutions, for example under a democracy and an aristocracy, and
many people make one man sovereign over the administration, for instance there is a government of
this sort in Epidamnus,62 and also at Opus63 to a certain smaller extent); but we have now to discuss
what is called Absolute Monarchy, which is the monarchy under which the king governs all men
according to his own will. Some people think that it is entirely contrary to nature for one person to be
sovereign over all the citizens where the state consists of men who are alike; for necessarily persons alike
in nature must in accordance with nature have the same principle of justice and the same value, so that
inasmuch as for persons who are unequal to have an equal amount of food or clothing is harmful for
their bodies, the same is the case also in regard to honors; similarly therefore it is wrong for those who
are equal to have inequality, owing to which it is just for no one person to govern or be governed more
than another, and therefore for everybody to govern and be governed alike in turn. And this constitutes
law for regulation is law. Therefore it is preferable for the law to rule rather than any one of the citizens,
[20] and according to this same principle, even if it be better for certain men to govern, they must be
appointed as guardians of the laws and in subordination to them; for there must be some government,
but it is clearly not just, men say, for one person to be governor when all the citizens are alike. It may be
objected that any case which the law appears to be unable to define, a human being also would be
unable to decide. But the law first specially educates the magistrates for the purpose and then
commissions them to decide and administer the matters that it leaves over according to the best of
their judgement,64 and furthermore it allows them to introduce for themselves any amendment that
experience leads them to think better than the established code. He therefore that recommends that the
law shall govern seems to recommend that God and reason alone shall govern, but he that would have
man govern adds a wild animal also; for appetite is like a wild animal, and also passion warps the rule
even of the best men. Therefore the law is wisdom without desire. And there seems to be no truth in the
analogy which argues from the arts65 that it is a bad thing to doctor oneself by book, but preferable to
employ the experts in the arts. For they never act contrary to principle from motives of friendship, but
earn their fee when (for instance) they have cured their patients, whereas holders of political office
usually do many things out of spite and to win favor; since when people suspect even the physicians of
being in the confidence of their enemies and of trying to make away with them for gain, in that case they
would sooner look up the treatment in the books. [1287b] [1] Yet certainly physicians themselves call in
other physicians to treat them when they are ill, and gymnastic trainers put themselves under other
trainers when they are doing exercises, believing that they are unable to judge truly because they are
judging about their own cases and when they are under the influence of feeling. Hence it is clear that
when men seek for what is just they seek for what is impartial; for66 the law is that which is impartial.
Again, customary laws67 are more sovereign and deal with more sovereign matters than written laws, so
that if a human ruler is less liable to error than written laws, yet he is not less liable to error than the
laws of custom. But also it is certainly not easy for the single ruler to oversee a multitude of things; it will
therefore be necessary for the officials appointed by him to be numerous; so that what difference does it
make whether this has been the arrangement immediately from the outset or the single ruler appoints
them in this manner? Again, a thing that has also been said before, if the virtuous man justly deserves to
rule because he is better, yet two good men are better than one: for that is the meaning of the line68
When two together go and of the prayer of Agamemnon69 May ten such fellow-councillors be
mine. And even now the magistrates, like the Athenian dicast, have power to judge certain cases about
which the law is unable to give a clear declaration, since nobody disputes that in matters about which it
can do so the law would be the best ruler and judge. But since, although some things can be covered by
the laws, [20] other things cannot, it is the latter that cause doubt and raise the question whether it is
preferable for the best law to rule or the best man. For to lay down a law about things that are subjects
for deliberation is an impossibility. Therefore men do not deny that it must be for a human being to
judge about such matters, but they say that it ought not to be a single human being only but a number.
For the individual official judges well when he has been instructed by the law, and it would doubtless
seem curious if a person saw better when judging with two eyes and two organs of hearing and acting
with two feet and hands than many persons with many, since even as it is monarchs make many eyes
and ears and hands and feet their own, for they adopt persons that are friendly to their rule and to
themselves as their fellow-rulers. Although therefore if these assistants are not friendly they will not act
in conformity with the monarch's policy, if they are friends of him and of his rule, well, a friend is one's
equal and like, so that if the monarch thinks that his friends ought to rule he thinks that people who are
equal to and like himself ought to rule like himself. This then more or less is the case advanced by those
who argue against kingship. But perhaps, although this is a true account of the matter in some cases, it
does not apply in others. For there is such a thing as being naturally fitted to be controlled by a master,
and in another case, to be governed by a king, and in another, for citizenship, and this is just and
expedient; but there is no such thing as natural fitness for tyranny, nor for any other of the forms of
government that are divergences, for these come about against nature. [1288a] [1] But merely from
what has been said, it is clear that among people who are alike and equal it is neither expedient nor just
for one to be sovereign over allneither when there are no laws, but he himself is in the place of law,
nor when there are laws, neither when both sovereign and subjects are good nor when both are bad,
nor yet when the sovereign is superior in virtue, except in a certain manner. What this manner is must be
stated; and in a way it has been stated already even before. But first we must define what constitutes
fitness for royal government, what fitness for aristocracy, and what for a republic. A fit subject for royal
government is a populace of such a sort as to be naturally capable of producing a family of outstanding
excellence for political leadership; a community fit for aristocracy is one that naturally produces a
populace70 capable of being governed under the form of government fit for free men by those who are
fitted by virtue for taking the part of leaders in constitutional government; a republican community, one
in which there naturally grows up a military populace71 capable of being governed and of governing
under a law that distributes the offices among the well-to-do in accordance with merit. When therefore
it comes about that there is either a whole family or even some one individual that differs from the
other citizens in virtue so greatly that his virtue exceeds that of all the others, then it is just for this
family to be the royal family or this individual king, and sovereign over all matters. For, as has been said
before, [20] this holds good not only in accordance with the right that is usually brought forward by
those who are founding aristocratic and oligarchic constitutions, and from the other side by those who
are founding democratic ones (for they all make their claim on the ground of superiority, though not the
same superiority), but it also holds good in accordance with the right spoken of before.72 For it is not
seemly to put to death or banish, nor yet obviously to ostracize, such a man, nor is it seemly to call upon
him to take his turn as a subject; for it is not in the order of nature for the part to overtop the whole, but
the man that is so exceptionally outstanding has come to overtop the whole community. Hence it only
remains for the community to obey such a man, and for him to be sovereign not in turn but absolutely.
Let this be our answer to the questions as regards kingship, what are its varieties, and whether it is
disadvantageous for states or advantageous, and for what states, and under what conditions. And since
we pronounce the right constitutions to be three, and of these the one governed by the best men must
necessarily be the best, and such is the one in which it has come about either that some one man or a
whole family or a group of men is superior in virtue to all the citizens together, the latter being able to be
governed and the former to govern on the principles of the most desirable life, and since in the first part
of the discourse73 it was proved that the virtue of a man and that of a citizen in the best state must of
necessity be the same, it is evident that a man becomes good in the same way and by the same means
as one might establish an aristocratically or monarchically governed state,74 [1288b] [1] so that it will be
almost the same education and habits that make a man good and that make him capable as a citizen or a
king. These conclusions having been laid down, we must now endeavor to discuss the best form of
constitution and to say in what way it is natural for it to come into existence and how it is natural for it to
be organized.75 1In all the arts and the sciences that are not merely sectional but that in relation to
some one class of subject are complete, it is the function of a single art or science to study what is suited
to each class,2 for instance what sort of gymnastic exercise is beneficial for what sort of bodily frame,
and what is the best sort (for the best must naturally suit the person of the finest natural endowment
and equipment), and also what one exercise taken by all is the best for the largest number (for this is
also a question for gymnastic science), and in addition, in case someone desires a habit of body and a
knowledge of athletic exercises that are not the ones adapted to him, it is clearly just as much the task of
the trainer and gymnastic master to produce this capacity3 also; [20] and we notice this also happening
similarly in regard to medicine, and shipbuilding, and the making of clothes, and every other craft. Hence
it is clear that in the case of the constitution as well it is the business of the same science to study which
is the best constitution and what character it must have to be the most ideal if no external circumstance
stands in the way, and what constitution is adapted to what people (since for many it is doubtless
impossible to attain the best one, so that the good lawgiver and the true statesman must be acquainted
with both the form of constitution that is the highest absolutely and that which is best under assumed
conditions), and also thirdly the form of constitution based on a certain supposition (for he must be also
capable of considering both how some given constitution could be brought into existence originally and
also in what way having been brought into existence it could be preserved for the longest time: I mean
for example if it has befallen some state not only not to possess the best constitution and to be
unprovided even with the things necessary for it, but also not to have the constitution that is practicable
under the circumstances but an inferior one); and beside all these matters he must ascertain the form of
constitution most suited to all states, since most of those who make pronouncements about the
constitution, even if the rest of what they say is good, entirely miss the points of practical utility. For it is
proper to consider4 not only what is the best constitution but also what is the one possible of
achievement, and likewise also what is the one that is easier and more generally shared by all states. But
as it is, some students inquire which is the highest form of all even though requiring much material
equipment,5 while those who rather state some general form sweep aside the constitutions actually
existing and praise that of Sparta or some other; [1289a] [1] but the proper course is to bring forward an
organization of such a sort that men will easily be persuaded and be able in the existing circumstances to
take part in it, since to reform a constitution is no less a task than to frame one from the beginning, just
as to re-learn a science is just as hard as to learn it originally; in addition therefore to the things
mentioned the student of politics must also be able to render aid to the constitutions that exist already,
as was also said before.6 But this is impossible if he does not know how many kinds of constitution there
are; but at present some people think that there is only one kind of democracy and one kind of oligarchy,
but this is not true. Hence he must take in view the different varieties of the constitutions, and know
how many there are and how many are their combinations. And after this it needs this same
discrimination also to discern the laws that are the best, and those that are suited to each of the forms
of constitution. For the laws should be laid down, and all people lay them down, to suit the constitutions
the constitutions must not be made to suit the laws; for a constitution is the regulation of the offices
of the state in regard to the mode of their distribution and to the question what is the sovereign power
in the state and what is the object of each community, but laws are distinct from the principles of the
constitution, and regulate how the magistrates are to govern and to guard against those [20] who
transgress them. So that clearly it is necessary to be in possession of the different varieties of each form
of constitution, and the number of these, even for the purpose of legislation; for it is impossible for the
same laws to be expedient for all oligarchies or democracies if there are really several kinds of them, and
not one sort of democracy or oligarchy only. And inasmuch as in our first inquiry7 about the forms of
the constitution we classified the right constitutions as three, kingship, aristocracy and constitutional
government, and the deviations from these as three, tyranny from kingship, oligarchy from aristocracy
and democracy from constitutional government, and about aristocracy and kingship we have spoken (for
to study the best constitution is the same thing as to speak about the forms that bear those names,
since each of them means a system based on the qualification of virtue equipped with means), and as
also the question what constitutes the difference between aristocracy and kingship and when a royal
government is to be adopted has been decided before, it remains to discuss the form of constitution
designated by the name8 common to them all, and the other forms, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny.
Now it is manifest also which of these deviations9 is the worst and which the second worst. For
necessarily the deviation from the first and most divine must be the worst,10 and kingship must of
necessity either possess the name only, without really being kingship, [1289b] [1] or be based on the
outstanding superiority of the man who is king; so that tyranny being the worst form must be the one
farthest removed from constitutional government, and oligarchy must be the second farthest (for
aristocracy is widely separated from that constitution), while democracy must be the most moderate. An
account of their relative merits has indeed already been given also by one of the former writers,11
though not on the same principle as ours; for he inclined to judge that there were good varieties of all
the forms, for instance a good sort of oligarchy and so on, and that democracy was the worst among
these, but the best among the bad varieties, whereas we say that the deviations are wholly wrong, and
that it is not right to speak of one form of oligarchy as better than another, but only as less bad. But let
us for the present dismiss the question of a classification of this nature. Our business is first to
distinguish how many different forms of the constitutions there are, assuming that there do exist several
kinds of democracy and of oligarchy; next, which form is most general, and which most desirable after
the best constitution, and also if there exists some other form that is aristocratic in nature and well
constructed but not fitted to the largest number of cities, which this is; next, which of the other forms
too is desirable for what people (since probably for some democracy is necessary more than oligarchy,
and for others oligarchy more than democracy); [20] and after this, in what way should one proceed who
wishes to set up these constitutions, I mean the various forms of democracy and of oligarchy; and finally,
when as far as possible we have concisely touched upon all these questions, we must endeavor to
review what are the agencies that destroy and what are those that preserve constitutions generally and
each variety of constitution in particular, and what are the causes by which it is most natural for these
events to be brought about. Now the reason of there being several forms of constitution is that every
city has a considerable number of parts. For in the first place we see that all the cities are composed of
households, and then again that of this multitude some must necessarily be rich and some poor and
some between the two, and also of the rich and the poor the former class is heavy-armed and the latter
without armor. And we see that one portion of the common people is agricultural, another engaged in
trade and another mechanic. And the upper classes have distinctions also corresponding to their wealth
and the amounts of their property (for example in a stud of horsesfor it is not easy to rear horses
without being rich, and this is why in ancient times there were oligarchies in all the states whose
strength lay in their cavalry, and they used to use horses for their wars against their neighbors, as for
instance did the Eretrians and Chalcidians and the people of Magnesia on the Maeander and many of
the other Asiatic peoples). Moreover in addition to differences in wealth there is the difference of birth,
and that in regard to virtue, [1290a] [1] and indeed any other similar distinction that in the discussion of
aristocracy has been stated to constitute a part of the state (for there we distinguished how many
necessary parts there are of which every state must consist); for sometimes all of these parts participate
in the constitution and sometimes a smaller or a larger number of them. It is clear therefore that there
must necessarily be several forms of constitution differing in kind from one another, inasmuch as these
parts differ in kind among themselves. For a constitution means the arrangement of the magistracies,
and this all people plan out either according to the power of those who share political rights, or
according to some common equality between them, I mean for example between the poor or between
the rich, or some equality common to them both.12 It follows therefore that there are as many forms of
constitution as there are modes of arrangement according to the superiorities and the differences of the
sections. But the forms mostly are thought to be twojust as in the case of the winds we speak of some
as north and some as south and regard the rest as deviations from these,13 so also of constitutions there
are held to be two forms, democracy and oligarchy; for men reckon aristocracy as a kind of oligarchy
because it is oligarchy of a sort, and what is called constitutional government as democracy, just as in the
case of the winds they reckon the west wind as a kind of north wind and the east wind as a kind of south
wind. [20] And the case is similar with musical modes, as some people say: for there too they posit two
kinds, the Dorian mode and the Phrygian, and call the other scales some of them Dorian and the others
Phrygian. For the most part therefore they are accustomed to think in this way about the constitutions;
but it is truer and better to class them as we did, and assuming that there are two well-constructed
forms, or else one, to say that the others are deviations, some from the well-blended constitution and
the others from the best one, the more tense and masterful constitutions being oligarchic and the
relaxed and soft ones demotic. But it is not right to define democracy, as some people are in the custom
of doing now, merely as the constitution in which the multitude is sovereign (for even in oligarchies and
everywhere the majority is sovereign) nor oligarchy as the constitution in which a few are sovereign over
the government. For if the whole number were thirteen hundred, and a thousand of these were rich and
did not give the three hundred poor a share in the government although they were free-born and like
themselves in all other respects, no one would say that this people was governed democratically; and
similarly also if there were few poor, but these more powerful than the rich who were more numerous,
no one would call such a government a democracy either, if the other citizens being rich had no share in
the honors. Rather therefore ought we to say that it is a democracy [1290b] [1] when the free are
sovereign and an oligarchy when the rich are, but that it comes about that the sovereign class in a
democracy is numerous and that in an oligarchy small because there are many men of free birth and few
rich. For otherwise, suppose people assigned the offices by height, as some persons14 say is done in
Ethiopia, or by beauty, that would be an oligarchy, because both the handsome and the tall are few in
number. Nevertheless it is not enough to define these constitutions even by wealth and free birth only;
but inasmuch as there are more elements than one both in democracy and in oligarchy, we must add the
further distinction that neither is it a democracy if the free15 being few govern the majority who are not
of free birth, as for instance at Apollonia on the Ionian Gulf and at Thera (for in each of these cities the
offices of honor were filled by the specially noble families who had been the first settlers of the colonies,
and these were few out of many), nor is it a democracy16 if the rich rule because they are in a majority,
as in ancient times at Colophon (for there the majority of the population owned large property before
the war against the Lydians took place), but it is a democracy when those who are free are in the
majority and have sovereignty over the government, and an oligarchy when the rich and more well born
[20] are few and sovereign. It has then been stated that there are several forms of constitution, and
what is the cause of this; but let us take the starting-point that was laid down before17 and say that
there are more forms than those mentioned, and what these forms are, and why they vary. For we agree
that every state possesses not one part but several. Therefore just as, in case we intended to obtain a
classification of animals, we should first define the properties necessarily belonging to every animal (for
instance some of the sense organs, and the machinery for masticating and for receiving food, such as a
mouth and a stomach, and in addition to these the locomotive organs of the various species), and if
there were only so many necessary parts, but there were different varieties of these (I mean for instance
certain various kinds of mouth and stomach and sensory organs, and also of the locomotive parts as
well), the number of possible combinations of these variations will necessarily produce a variety of kinds
of animals (for it is not possible for the same animal to have several different sorts of mouth, nor
similarly of ears either), so that when all the possible combinations of these are taken they will all
produce animal species, and there will be as many species of the animal as there are combinations of
the necessary parts:so in the same way also we shall classify the varieties of the constitutions that
have been mentioned. For states also are composed not of one but of several parts, as has been said
often. One of these parts therefore is the mass of persons concerned with food who are called farmers,
[1291a] [1] and second is what is called the mechanic class (and this is the group engaged in the arts
without which it is impossible for a city to be inhabited, and some of these arts are indispensably
necessary, while others contribute to luxury or noble living), and third is a commercial class (by which I
mean the class that is engaged in selling and buying and in wholesale and retail trade), and fourth is the
class of manual laborers, and the fifth class is the one to defend the state in war, which is no less
indispensable than the others if the people are not to become the slaves of those who come against
them; for surely it is quite out of the question that it should be proper to give the name of state to a
community that is by nature a slave, for a state is self-sufficient, but that which is a slave is not self-
sufficient. Therefore the statement made in the Republic18 is witty but not adequate. For Socrates says
that the most necessary elements of which a state is composed are four, and he specifies these as a
weaver, a farmer, a shoemaker and a builder; and then again he adds, on the ground that these are not
self-sufficient, a copper-smith and the people to look after the necessary live-stock, and in addition a
merchant and a retail trader. These elements together constitute the full complement of his first city,19
implying that every city is formed for the sake of the necessaries of life and not rather for the sake of
what is noble, and that it has equal need of both shoemakers and farmers; but the warrior class [20] he
does not assign to it until as the territory is increased and comes into contact with that of the neighbors
they are brought into war. But yet even among the four partners or whatever their number be there
must necessarily be somebody to assign justice and to judge their claims; inasmuch therefore as one
would count the soul of an animal to be more a part of it than the body, so also the factors in states
corresponding to the soul must be deemed to be parts of them more than those factors which
contribute to necessary utility,the former being the military class and the class that plays a part in
judicial justice, and in addition to these the deliberative class, deliberation being a function of political
intelligence. And it makes no difference to the argument whether these functions are held by special
classes separately or by the same persons; for it often happens for the same men to be both soldiers and
farmers. Hence inasmuch as both groups20 of classes must be counted parts of the state, it is clear that
the heavy-armed soldiery at any rate21 must be a part of the state. And a seventh class is the one that
serves the community by means of its property, the class that we call the rich. And an eighth is the class
of public servants, that is, those who serve in the magistracies, inasmuch as without rulers it is
impossible for a city to exist; it is therefore necessary that there should be some men who are able to
govern and who render this service to the state either continuously or in turn. And there remain the
classes which we happen to have defined just before, the deliberative class and the one that judges the
claims of litigants. If therefore it is proper for the states to have these functions performed, and well and
justly performed, [1291b] [1] it is necessary for there also to be some men possessing virtue in the form
of political excellence. Now as to the other capacities many people think that it is possible for them to be
possessed in combination, for example, for the same men to be the soldiers that defend the state in war
and the farmers that till the land and the artisans, and also the councillors and judges, and indeed all
men claim to possess virtue and think themselves capable of filling most of the offices of state; but it is
not possible for the same men to be poor and rich. Hence these seem to be in the fullest sense the parts
of the state, the rich and the poor. And also the fact that the rich are usually few and the poor many
makes these two among the parts of the state appear as opposite sections; so that the superior claims22
of these classes are even made the guiding principles upon which constitutions are constructed, and it is
thought that there are two forms of constitution, democracy and oligarchy. That there are then several
forms of constitution, and what are the reasons for this, has been stated before; let us now say that
there are several varieties both of democracy and of oligarchy. And this is clear even from what has been
said already. For there are several classes both of the people and of those called the notables; for
instance classes of the people are, one the farmers, another the class dealing with the arts and crafts,
another the commercial class [20] occupied in buying and selling and another the one occupied with the
seaand this is divided into the classes concerned with naval warfare, with trade, with ferrying
passengers and with fishing (for each of these classes is extremely numerous in various places, for
instance fishermen at Tarentum and Byzantium, navy men at Athens, the mercantile class at Aegina and
Chios, and the ferryman-class at Tenedos), and in addition to these the hand-working class and the
people possessing little substance so that they cannot live a life of leisure, also those that are not free
men of citizen parentage on both sides, and any other similar class of common people; while among the
notables wealth, birth, virtue, education, and the distinctions that are spoken of in the same group as
these, form the classes. The first kind of democracy therefore is the one which receives the name chiefly
in respect of equality. For the law of this sort of democracy ascribes equality to the state of things in
which the poor have no more prominence than the rich, and neither class is sovereign, but both are
alike; for assuming that freedom is chiefly found in a democracy, as some persons suppose, and also
equality, this would be so most fully when to the fullest extent all alike share equally in the government.
And since the people are in the majority, and a resolution passed by a majority is paramount, this must
necessarily be a democracy. This therefore is one kind of democracy, where the offices are held on
property qualifications, but these low ones, although it is essential that the man who acquires the
specified amount should have the right to hold office, and the man who loses it should not hold office.
[1292a] [1] And another kind of democracy is for all the citizens that are not open to challenge23 to have
a share in office, but for the law to rule; and another kind of democracy is for all to share in the offices
on the mere qualification of being a citizen, but for the law to rule. Another kind of democracy is where
all the other regulations are the same, but the multitude is sovereign and not the law; and this comes
about when the decrees of the assembly over-ride the law. This state of things is brought about by the
demagogues; for in the states under democratic government guided by law a demagogue does not arise,
but the best classes of citizens are in the most prominent position; but where the laws are not sovereign,
then demagogues arise; for the common people become a single composite monarch, since the many
are sovereign not as individuals but collectively. Yet what kind of democracy Homer24 means by the
words no blessing is the lordship of the manywhether he means this kind or when those who rule as
individuals are more numerous, is not clear. However, a people of this sort, as being monarch, seeks to
exercise monarchic rule through not being ruled by the law, and becomes despotic, so that flatterers are
held in honor. And a democracy of this nature is comparable to the tyrannical form of monarchy, because
their spirit is the same, and both exercise despotic control over the better classes, and the decrees voted
by the assembly [20] are like the commands issued in a tyranny, and the demagogues and the flatterers
are the same people or a corresponding class, and either set has the very strongest influence with the
respective ruling power, the flatterers with the tyrants and the demagogues with democracies of this
kind. And these men cause the resolutions of the assembly to be supreme and not the laws, by referring
all things to the people; for they owe their rise to greatness to the fact that the people is sovereign over
all things while they are sovereign over the opinion of the people, for the multitude believes them.
Moreover those who bring charges against the magistrates say that the people ought to judge the suits,
and the people receive the invitation gladly, so that all the magistracies are put down. And it would seem
to be a reasonable criticism to say that such a democracy is not a constitution at all; for where the laws
do not govern there is no constitution, as the law ought to govern all things while the magistrates control
particulars, and we ought to judge this to be constitutional government; if then democracy really is one
of the forms of constitution, it is manifest that an organization of this kind, in which all things are
administered by resolutions of the assembly, is not even a democracy in the proper sense, for it is
impossible for a voted resolution to be a universal rule. Let this be our discussion of the different kinds
of democracy. Of the kinds of oligarchy, one is for the magistracies to be appointed from property-
assessments so high that the poor who are the majority have no share in the government, but for the
man who acquires the requisite amount of property to be allowed to take part in it; [1292b] [1] another
is when the magistracies are filled from high assessments and the magistrates themselves elect to fill
vacancies (so that if they do so from all the citizens of this assessment, this appears rather to be of the
nature of an aristocracy, but if from a particular section of them, it is oligarchical); another variety of
oligarchy is when son succeeds father in office; and a fourth kind is when the hereditary system just
mentioned exists and also the magistrates govern and not the law. This among oligarchies is the form
corresponding to tyranny among monarchies and to the form of democracy about which we spoke last
among democracies, and indeed oligarchy of this sort has the special name of dynasty.25 So many
therefore are the kinds of oligarchy and of democracy; but it must not escape notice that in many places
it has come about that although the constitution as framed by the laws is not democratic, yet owing to
custom and the social system it is democratically administered, and similarly by a reverse process in
other states although the legal constitution is more democratic, yet by means of the social system and
customs it is carried on rather as an oligarchy. This occurs chiefly after alterations of the constitutions
have taken place; for the people do not change over to the new system immediately but are content at
the first stages to gain small advantages from the other party, [20] so that the previously existing laws
continue although power is in the hands of the party that is changing the constitution. And that these
various kinds of democracy and oligarchy exist is manifest from the actual things that have been said. For
necessarily either all the parts of the population that have been mentioned must have a share in the
government, or some and not others. When therefore the farmer class and the class possessed of
moderate property is sovereign over the government, they govern according to laws; for they have a
livelihood if they work, but are not able to be at leisure, so that they put the law in control and hold the
minimum of assemblies necessary; and the other persons have the right to take part when they have
acquired the property-assessment fixed by the laws, so that to take part in the government is open to all
who have got that amount of property; since for it not to be open to everybody on any terms at all is a
characteristic of oligarchy, but then on the other hand it is impossible for it to be open to them to have
leisure if there are no revenues.26 This then is one kind of democracy for these reasons. Another kind is
due to the distinction that comes next: it is possible that all the citizens not liable to objection on the
score of birth may have the right to take part in the assembly, but may actually take part only when they
are able to be at leisure; hence in a democracy of this nature the laws govern because there is no
revenue. A third kind is when all those who are free men have the right to take part in the government
yet do not do so because of the aforesaid reason, so that it follows that in this form of democracy also
the law governs. [1293a] [1] And a fourth kind of democracy is the one that has been the last in point of
time to come into existence in the states. Because the states have become much greater than the
original ones and possess large supplies of revenue, while all the citizens have a share in the government
because of the superiority27 of the multitude, all actually take part in it and exercise their citizenship
because even the poor are enabled to be at leisure by receiving pay. Indeed the multitude in this kind of
state has a very great deal of leisure, for they are not hampered at all by the care of their private affairs,
but the rich are, so that often they take no part in the assembly nor in judging lawsuits. Owing to this the
multitude of the poor becomes sovereign over the government, instead of the laws. Such in number and
in nature are the kinds of democracy that these causes necessarily bring into existence. To turn to the
varieties and of oligarchy, when more men possess property, but less of it and not a very large amount,
this is the first form of oligarchy; for they allow the man that acquires property the right to participate,
and because there is a large number of persons participating in the government it necessarily follows
that not the men but the law is sovereign (for the farther removed they are from monarchy, and as they
have not so much property as to be idle and neglect it, nor yet so little as to be kept at the expense of
the state, [20] they are compelled to call upon the law to rule instead of ruling themselves). But then if
the owners of the properties are fewer than those who owned them previously, and own more, the
second form of oligarchy comes into being; for as they become stronger they claim to have a larger
share, and therefore they themselves select those from among the rest of the citizens who go into the
government, but as they are not yet strong enough to rule without law they make the law conform with
this.28 And if they carry matters further by becoming fewer and holding larger properties, there comes
about the third advance in oligarchy, which consists in their keeping the offices in their own hands, but
under a law enacting that they are to be hereditary. And when finally they attain very great pre-
eminence by their wealth and their multitude of friends, a dynasty of this nature is near to monarchy,
and men become supreme instead of the law; and this is the fourth kind of oligarchy, the counterpart of
the last kind of democracy. Furthermore29 there are two constitutions by the side of democracy and
oligarchy, one30 of which is counted by everybody and has been referred to as one of the four forms of
constitution (and the four meant are monarchy, oligarchy, democracy and fourth the form called
aristocracy), but there is a fifth, entitled by the common name of them all (for it is called constitutional
government), but as it does not often occur it is overlooked by those who try to enumerate the forms of
constitution, and they use the four names only (as does Plato) in the list of constitutions. [1293b] [1]
Now the name of aristocracy is indeed properly given to the constitution that we discussed in our first
discourses31 (for it is right to apply the name aristocracygovernment of the bestonly to the
constitution of which the citizens are best in virtue absolutely and not merely good men in relation to
some arbitrary standard, for under it alone the same person is a good man and a good citizen absolutely,
whereas those who are good under the other constitutions are good relatively to their own form of
constitution); nevertheless there are also some constitutions that have differences both in comparison
with oligarchically governed states and with what is termed constitutional government, inasmuch as in
them they elect the officials not only by wealth but also by goodness; this form of constitution differs
from both and is called aristocratic. For even in the states that do not pay any public attention to virtue
there are nevertheless some men that are held in high esteem and are thought worthy of respect.
Where then the constitution takes in view wealth and virtue as well as the common people, as for
instance at Carthage, this is of the nature of an aristocracy; and so also are the states, in which the
constitution, like that of Sparta, takes in view two of these things only, virtue and the common people,
and there is a mingling of these two factors, democracy and virtue. These then are two kinds of
aristocracy beside the first, which is the best constitution, [20] and a third kind is those instances of what
is called constitutional government that incline more in the direction of oligarchy. It remains for us to
speak about what is termed constitutional government and also about tyranny. Though neither the
former nor the aristocracies spoken of just now are really deviations, we have classed them thus because
in actual truth they have all fallen away from the most correct constitution, and consequently are
counted with the deviation-forms, and those are deviations from them, as we said in our remarks at the
beginning.32 Tyranny is reasonably mentioned last because it is the least constitutional of all
governments, whereas our investigation is about constitutional government. Having then stated the
reason for this mode of classification, we have now to set forth our view about constitutional
government. For its meaning is clearer now that the characteristics of oligarchy and democracy have
been defined; since constitutional government is, to put it simply, a mixture of oligarchy and democracy.
But people customarily give the name of constitutional government only to those among such mixed
constitutions that incline towards democracy, and entitle those that incline more towards oligarchy
aristocracies, because education and good birth go more with the wealthier classes, and also the
wealthy are thought to have already the things to get which wrongdoers commit wrong; owing to which
people apply the terms gentry and notabilities to the rich. Since therefore aristocracy means the
assignment of the highest place to the best of the citizens, oligarchies also are said to be drawn rather
from the gentry. [1294a] [1] And it seems an impossibility for a city governed not by the aristocracy but
by the base to have well-ordered government, and similarly also for a city that has not a well-ordered
government to be governed aristocratically. But to have good laws enacted but not obey them does not
constitute well-ordered government. Hence one form of good government must be understood to
consist in the laws enacted being obeyed, and another form in the laws which the citizens keep being
well enacted (for it is possible to obey badly enacted laws). And for laws to be well enacted is possible in
two ways: they must either be the best laws possible for the given people or the best absolutely. But
aristocracy in the fullest sense seems to consist in the distribution of the honors according to virtue; for
virtue is the defining factor of aristocracy, as wealth is of oligarchy, and freedom of democracy (while the
principle that a decision of the majority is supreme is found in them all: for in both oligarchy and
aristocracy and democracies whatever the larger part of those who have a share in the government
decides is supreme). In most states33 then the name of aristocracy is given to that form of constitutional
government,34 for the combination aims only at the well-off and the poor, wealth and freedom (since in
almost the largest number of states the rich seem to occupy the place of the gentry); but as there are
three things that claim equal participation [20] in the constitution, freedom, wealth and virtue (for the
fourth, what is called nobility, accompanies the two latternobility means ancient wealth and virtue), it
is manifest that the mixture of the two factors, the rich and the poor,35 ought to be termed
constitutional government, while the mixture of the three factors deserves the name of aristocracy most
of all the various forms of aristocracy beside the true and best form. It has then been stated that other
forms of constitution also exist besides monarchy, democracy and oligarchy, and what their
characteristics are, and how the various sorts of aristocracy and of constitutional government differ from
one another; and it is manifest that aristocracy and constitutional government are not widely apart from
one another. Next to what has been said let us state the way in which what is called constitutional
government comes into existence by the side of democracy and oligarchy, and how it is proper to
establish it. At the same time the defining characteristics of democracy and oligarchy will also be clear;
for we must grasp the distinction between these and then make a combination out of them, taking, so to
say, a contribution from each. And there are three principles determining this combination or mixture.
Under one plan we must adopt both features from the legislative schemes of the two different
constitutions: for example, in regard to the administration of justice, in oligarchies they institute a fine
for the rich if they do not serve on juries but no pay for the poor for serving, while in democracies they
assign pay for the poor but no fine for the rich, but a common and intermediate principle is to have both
payment and fine, and therefore this is a mark of a constitutional government, since it is a mixture of
elements from both oligarchy and democracy. [1294b] [1] This then is one mode of combining the two.
Another is to take the middle course between the regulations of each: for example, democracies permit
membership of the assembly on no property-qualification at all or a quite small one, oligarchies on a
large property-qualification, but the combination clearly is to have neither principle, but one which lies
in the middle between either of these two qualifications. In the third place is a combination of the two
systems, taking some features from the oligarchical law and some from the democratic; I mean, for
example, that it is thought to be democratic for the offices to be assigned by lot, for them to be elected
oligarchic, and democratic for them not to have a property-qualification, oligarchic to have one;
therefore it is aristocratic and constitutional to take one feature from one form and the other from the
other, from oligarchy that offices are to be elected, and from democracy that this is not to be on a
property-qualification. This then is the mode of the mixture; and the mark of a good mixture of
democracy and oligarchy is when it is possible to speak of the same constitution as a democracy and as
an oligarchy; for manifestly this is so when it is said because they have been mixed well, and this is the
case with the form that lies in the middle, for each of the two extreme forms can be seen in it. This is the
case with the constitution of Sparta. For many people [20] endeavor to describe it as being a democracy,
because its system has many democratic features, for instance first of all its regulation for the rearing of
boys, since the sons of the rich are brought up in the same way as those of the poor, and are educated in
a manner in which the sons of the poor also could be educated, and they are also treated similarly at the
next age, and in the same manner when they are grown up, for there is nothing that distinguishes the
rich man from the poor manthus the arrangements for food are the same for all at the common
messes, and the rich wear clothes such as even any poor man could procure, and also because of the
two greatest offices the common people elect to one and share in the other (they elect the Elders and
share in the Ephorate); but others call it an oligarchy, because it has many oligarchical features, for
instance that all the offices are elective and none appointed by lot and few persons have the power to
sentence to death and exile, and a number of other such matters. But in a well-constructed mixed
constitution both of the two factors, and neither of them,36 should seem to be present, and it should be
kept safe by its own means and not by outside aid, and by its own means not because those who desire
its security are more numerous outside it37 (for even a bad constitution might possess this quality), but
because no section of the state whatever would even wish for another constitution. The proper way
therefore to establish a constitutional government, and similarly also the governments named
aristocracies, has now been stated. [1295a] [1] It remained for us to speak of tyranny, not because there
is much that can be said about it, but in order that it may receive its part in our inquiry, since we rank
this also as one among the kinds of constitution. The nature of kingship we have defined in our first
discourses,38 in which we examined the question in relation to the constitution most commonly
denoted by the term kingship, whether it is disadvantageous or an advantage to states, and what
person ought to be set up as king, and from what source, and by what procedure; and in the passage in
which we were considering kingship we distinguished two kinds of tyranny, because their power in a
manner borders upon royalty, because both these forms of rule are in accordance with law (for among
some of the barbarians they elect monarchic rulers with autocratic powers, and also in old times among
the ancient Greeks some men used to become monarchs of this sort, the rulers called aesymnetae), but
these two forms of tyranny have certain differences from one another, although they were on the one
hand of the nature of royalty because they were in accordance with law and because they exercised
monarchic rule over willing subjects, and on the other hand of the nature of a tyranny because they
ruled despotically and according to their own judgement. But there is a third kind of tyranny which is
thought to be tyranny in the fullest degree, being the counterpart of universal kingship; to this sort of
tyranny must necessarily belong a monarchy [20] that exercises irresponsible rule over subjects all of the
same or of a higher class with a view to its own private interest and not in the interest of the persons
ruled. Hence it is held against the will of the subjects, since no free man willingly endures such rule.
These then are the kinds of tyranny and such is their number, for the reasons stated But what is the best
constitution and what is the best mode of life for most cities and most of mankind, if we do not judge by
the standard of a virtue that is above the level of private citizens or of an education that needs natural
gifts and means supplied by fortune, nor by the standard of the ideal constitution, but of a mode of life
able to be shared by most men and a constitution possible for most states to attain? For the
constitutions called aristocracies, of which we spoke just now,39 in some cases fall somewhat out of the
scope of most states, and in others approximate to what is called constitutional government, so that it is
proper to speak of these two forms as if they were one. And indeed the decision in regard to all these
questions is based on the same elementary principles. For if it has been rightly said in theEthics40 that
the happy life is the life that is lived without impediment in accordance with virtue, and that virtue is a
middle course, it necessarily follows that the middle course of life is the bestsuch a middle course as it
is possible for each class of men to attain. And these same criteria must also necessarily apply to the
goodness and badness of a state, and of a constitutionfor a constitution is a certain mode of life of a
state. [1295b] [1] In all states therefore there exist three divisions of the state, the very rich, the very
poor, and thirdly those who are between the two. Since then it is admitted that what is moderate or in
the middle is best, it is manifest that the middle amount of all of the good things of fortune is the best
amount to possess. For this degree of wealth is the readiest to obey reason, whereas for a person who is
exceedingly beautiful or strong or nobly born or rich, or the oppositeexceedingly poor or weak or of
very mean station, it is difficult to follow the bidding of reason; for the former turn more to insolence
and grand wickedness, and the latter overmuch to malice and petty wickedness, and the motive of all
wrongdoing is either insolence or malice. And moreover the middle class are the least inclined to shun
office and to covet office,41 and both these tendencies are injurious to states. And in addition to these
points, those who have an excess of fortune's goods, strength, wealth, friends and the like, are not
willing to be governed and do not know how to be (and they have acquired this quality even in their
boyhood from their homelife, which was so luxurious that they have not got used to submitting to
authority even in school), while those who are excessively in need of these things are too humble. Hence
the latter class do not know how to govern but know how to submit to [20] government of a servile kind,
while the former class do not know how to submit to any government, and only know how to govern in
the manner of a master. The result is a state consisting of slaves and masters, not of free men, and of
one class envious and another contemptuous of their fellows. This condition of affairs is very far
removed from friendliness, and from political partnershipfor friendliness is an element of partnership,
since men are not willing to be partners with their enemies even on a journey. But surely the ideal of the
state is to consist as much as possible of persons that are equal and alike, and this similarity is most
found in the middle classes; therefore the middle-class state will necessarily be best constituted in
respect of those elements42 of which we say that the state is by nature composed. And also this class of
citizens have the greatest security in the states; for they do not themselves covet other men's goods as
do the poor, nor do the other classes covet their substance as the poor covet that of the rich; and
because they are neither plotted against nor plotting they live free from danger. Because of this it was a
good prayer of Phocylides43 In many things the middle have the best; Be mine a middle station. It
is clear therefore also that the political community administered by the middle class is the best, and that
it is possible for those states to be well governed that are of the kind in which the middle class is
numerous, and preferably stronger than both the other two classes, or at all events than one of them,
for by throwing in its weight it sways the balance and prevents the opposite extremes44 from coming
into existence. Hence it is the greatest good fortune if the men that have political power possess a
moderate and sufficient substance, [1296a] [1] since where some own a very great deal of property and
others none there comes about either an extreme democracy or an unmixed oligarchy, or a tyranny may
result from both of the two extremes, for tyranny springs from both democracy and oligarchy of the
most unbridled kind, but much less often from the middle forms of constitution and those near to them.
The cause of this we will speak of later in our treatment of political revolutions. That the middle form of
constitution is the best is evident; for it alone is free from faction, since where the middle class is
numerous, factions and party divisions among the citizens are least likely to occur. And the great states
are more free from faction for the same reason, because the middle class is numerous, whereas in the
small states it is easy to divide the whole people into two parties leaving nothing in between, and also
almost everybody is needy or wealthy. Also democracies are more secure and more long-lived than
oligarchies owing to the citizens of the middle class (for they are more numerous and have a larger share
of the honors in democracies than in oligarchies), since when the poor are in a majority without the
middle class, adversity sets in and they are soon ruined. And it must be deemed a significant fact that
the best lawgivers are from among the middle citizens; for Solon was of that class, [20] as appears from
his poetry, and so was Lycurgus (for he was not a king) and Charondas and almost the greatest number
of the other lawgivers. And these considerations also show the reason why the constitutions of most
states are either democratic or oligarchical; owing to the middle class in these states being often a small
one, the classes diverging from the middle statuswhichever of the two, the owners of the estates or
the people, from time to time has the upper handconduct the government on their own lines, so that
it becomes either a democracy or an oligarchy. And in addition to this, because factions occur and fights
between the people and the wealthy, whichever party happens to gain the upper hand over its
opponents does not establish a common or equal government, but takes the superior share in the
government as a prize of victory, and makes it a democracy in the one case and an oligarchy in the other.
Moreover each of the two states that in the past held the leadership of Greece took as a pattern the
form of government that existed among themselves and set up in the one case democracies and in the
other oligarchies in the cities, not considering the interest of the cities but their own advantage. Hence
owing to these causes the middle form of constitution either never comes into existence or seldom and
in few places; for one man45 only among the states that have formerly held the leadership was induced
to grant this form of organization, and by this time it has become a fixed habit with the people of the
separate cities also not even to desire equality, [1296b] [1] but either to seek to rule or to endure being
under a master. These considerations therefore make it clear which is the best constitution, and why it is
the best; and now that the best has been defined, it is not difficult to see, among the other forms of
constitution (inasmuch as we pronounce that there are various forms of democracy and various
oligarchies), what kind is to be placed first, what second, and what next in this order, by reason of one
being better and another worse. For at each stage the form nearest to the best one must necessarily be
superior, and the form that is more remote from the middle must be inferiorunless one is judging
relatively to given conditions: I make this reservation because it is quite possible that although one form
of constitution is preferable it may often be more advantageous for certain people to have another form.
The next thing after what has been said is to discuss which constitution is advantageous for which
people, and what sort of constitution for what sort of people. Now we must first grasp a general
principle that applies equally to all sorts of constitution: it is essential that the part of the state that
wishes the constitution to remain should be stronger than the part that does not wish it. But every state
consists of both quality and quantity: by quality I mean freedom, wealth, education, good birth, and by
quantity the superior numbers of the multitude. And it is possible that, [20] while the quality of the state
belongs to one among the parts of which the state consists and its quantity to another partfor
example the low-born may be more numerous than the noble or the poor than the rich, yet the more
numerous class may not exceed in quantity as much as they fall behind in quality. Hence these two
factors have to be judged in comparison with one another. Where therefore the multitude of the poor
exceeds in the proportion stated,46 here it is natural for there to be democracy, and each kind of
democracy in accordance with the superior number of the common people of each sort, for example if
the number of the farming class exceeds, the first sort of democracy, but if that of the common laborers
and wage-earners, the last sort, and similarly also with the other sorts that lie between these two; but
where the class of the well-to-do and notable exceeds in quality more than it falls behind in quantity,
here it is natural for there to be an oligarchy, and likewise the various kinds of oligarchy according to the
degree of superiority47 of the oligarchical multitude.48 But the lawgiver in his constitution must always
take in the middle class; if he is making the laws of an oligarchical character he must keep the middle
class in view, and if democratic, he must legislate so as to bring them in. And where the number of the
middle class exceeds both the extreme classes together, or even one of them only, here it is possible for
a constitutional government to be lasting; [1297a] [1] for there is no fear of the rich ever coming to
terms with the poor against this numerous middle class; for neither class will ever wish to be subject to
the other, and if they look for another constitution fairer to both than this they will not find one, for they
would not endure to take turns to govern because they distrust each other: everywhere it is the
arbitrator that is most trusted, and the man in the middle is an arbitrator. And the better the constitution
is mixed, the more permanent it is; and many even of those who want to establish aristocratic forms of
constitution make a great mistake not only in giving too large a share to the well-to-do but also in
cheating the people; for false benefits inevitably result ultimately in true evil, as the encroachments of
the rich ruin the constitution more than those of the people. The artifices employed in constitutions as a
pretext in regard to the people are five in number, and are concerned with the assembly, the
magistracies, the law-courts, the bearing of heavy arms, and gymnastic exercises; in relation to the
assembly, the granting to all of the right to attend but the imposition of a fine for non-attendance on the
well-to-do only, or a much larger fine on them than others; in relation to the magistracies, [20] the denial
to the owners of rated property of the right to swear off serving, while the poor have this right; in
relation to the law-courts, the imposition of a fine on the well-to-do if they do not serve on a jury, but no
penalty for the poor, or else a large fine for the one class and a small one for the others, as in the laws of
Charondas. In some places all have the right to serve in the assembly and on juries after having their
names put on a register, but large fines are imposed on those who after so registering fail to attend in
either capacity, in order that the fine may cause them to avoid registration and that owing to their not
registering they may not serve on juries or in the assembly. They also legislate in the same manner about
owning heavy arms and engaging in gymnastic exercises: the poor are not allowed to possess arms, but
the well-to-do are liable to a fine if they have not got them, and there is no fine for the former class if
they abstain from gymnastics, but the well-to-do are liable to a fine, in order that the one class because
of the fine may take part in them and the other because they have no penalty to fear may not. These
artifices of legislation then are of an oligarchic nature; in democracies they introduce contrary devices in
regard to these matters: they provide pay for the poor for serving in the assembly and on juries and
impose no fine upon the well-to-do for abstaining. Hence it is manifest that if anybody wishes to make a
just blend, he must bring together the regulations existing in each of the two forms of constitution, and
provide pay for attendance and a fine for non-attendance; for thus all would participate, whereas in the
other way the government comes to be in the hands of only one of the two classes. [1297b] [1] And
although it is proper that the government should be drawn only from those who possess heavy armor,
yet it is not possible to define the amount of the property-qualification absolutely and to say that they
must possess so much, but only to consider what sort of amount is the highest that is compatible with
making those who have a share in the constitution more numerous than those who have not, and to fix
that limit. For those who are poor and have no share in the honors are willing to keep quiet if no one
insults them or takes away any part of their substance; but this is not easy to secure, for it does not
always happen that those who are in the governing class are gentlemen. Also people have a way of being
reluctant to serve when there is a war if they do not get rations and are poor men but; if somebody
provides food they want to fight. In some states the citizen-body consists not only of those who are
serving as heavy-armed soldiers, but also of those who have so served; and at Malea the citizen-body
consisted of these, while the magistrates were elected from those who were actually on service. And
indeed the earliest form of constitution among the Greeks after the kingships consisted of those who
were actually soldiers, the original form consisting of the cavalry (for war had its strength and its pre-
eminence in cavalry, since without orderly formation heavy-armed infantry [20] is useless, and the
sciences and systems dealing with tactics did not exist among the men of old times, so that their
strength lay in their cavalry); but as the states grew and the wearers of heavy armor had become
stronger, more persons came to have a part in the government. Hence what we now call constitutional
governments the men of former times called democracies; but the constitutional governments of early
days were naturally oligarchical and royal, for owing to the smallness of the populations their middle
class was not numerous, so that because of their small numbers as well as in conformity with the
structure of the state the middle class more readily endured being in a subject position. It has then been
said what is the reason of there being several forms of constitution, and why there are others besides
those designated by name (for there is not one single democracy only, and similarly there are more than
one of the other forms), and also what are the differences between them and what is the reason why
these differences occur, and in addition to these points, which is the best of the constitutions speaking
generally, and of the other constitutions which sort is suited to which sort of people. And again, let us
speak about the points that come next, both generally and with reference to each constitution
separately, taking their appropriate starting-point. All forms of constitution then have three factors in
reference to which the good lawgiver has to consider what is expedient for each constitution; and if
these factors are well-ordered the constitution must of necessity be well-ordered, and the superiority of
one constitution over another necessarily consists in the superiority of each of these factors. Of these
three factors one is, what is to be the body that deliberates about the common interests, [1298a] [1]
second the one connected with the magistracies, that is, what there are to be and what matters they are
to control, and what is to be the method of their election, and a third is, what is to be the judiciary. The
deliberative factor is sovereign about war and peace and the formation and dissolution of alliances, and
about laws, and about sentences of death and exile and confiscation of property, and about the audits of
magistrates. And necessarily either all these decisions must be assigned to all the citizens, or all to some
of them (for instance to some one magistracy or to several), or different ones to different magistracies,
or some of them to all the citizens and some to certain persons. For all the citizens to be members of
the deliberative body and to decide all these matters is a mark of a popular government, for the
common people seek for equality of this nature. But there are several modes of such universal
membership. One is for the citizens to serve in rotation and not all in a body (as is enacted in the
constitution of the Milesian Telecles,49 and in other constitutions also the boards of magistrates
deliberate in joint assemblies but all the citizens enter into the magistracies from the tribes or from the
very smallest sections of the citizen-body in rotation until office has gone through the whole body), and
for there to be joint assemblies only to consider legislation and reforms of the constitution and to hear
the reports submitted by the magistrates. Another mode is [20] for all to assemble in a body, but only for
the purpose of electing magistrates, enacting laws, considering the declaration of war and the
conclusion of peace and holding the audit of magistrates, but for all other matters to be considered by
the magistrates appointed to deal with each respectively and elected by suffrage or by lot from all the
citizens. Another mode is for the citizens to meet about the magistracies and the audits and in order to
deliberate about declaring war and concluding an alliance, but for all other matters to be dealt with by
the magistrates, elected by suffrage in as many cases as circumstances allow,50 and such magistracies
are all those which must of necessity be filled by experts. A fourth mode is for all to meet in council
about all matters, and for the magistracies to decide about nothing but only to make preliminary
decisions; this is the mode in which democracy in its last form is administered at the present daythe
form of democracy which we pronounce to correspond to dynastic oligarchy and to tyrannical monarchy.
These modes then are all of them democratic. On the other hand for some persons to deliberate upon
all matters is oligarchic. But this also has several variations. For when the members of the deliberative
body are elected on comparatively moderate property-qualifications, and the eligible persons are
comparatively numerous because of the moderateness of the qualification, and when they do not make
changes in things in which the law forbids it but follow the law, and when anybody acquiring the
property-qualification is allowed to become a member, a constitution of this sort is indeed an oligarchy,
but one of the nature of constitutional government, because of its moderation. When on the other hand
not everybody thus qualified participates in deliberation but only certain persons previously chosen by
election, [1298b] [1] and these govern in accordance with law as in the former case, this is oligarchical;
and also when the deliberative officials are elected by co-optation, and when the office is hereditary and
has supreme control over the laws, this system is bound to be oligarchical. But when certain persons
control certain matters, for instance when all the citizens control decisions as to war and peace and the
audit of officials while everything else is controlled by magistrates and these are elected by vote, not by
lot,51 the constitution is an aristocracy; while if some matters are controlled by magistrates elected by
vote and others by magistrates chosen by lot, and this either directly or from a list previously selected by
vote, or if magistrates elected by vote and by lot sit in a joint body, some of these regulations are
features of an aristocratic constitution and others of constitutional government itself. We have then in
this way distinguished the different kinds of deliberative body in relation to the forms of constitution,
and each form of constitution carries on the administration in accordance with the distinction stated. But
for a democracy of the form that at the present day is considered to be democracy in the fullest degree
(and I mean one of the sort in which the people is sovereign even over the laws) it is advantageous for
the improvement of its deliberative function for it to do the same as is done in oligarchies in the matter
of the law-courts (for they enact a fine to compel the attendance on juries of those whom they want to
attend, whereas democratic states institute payment for attendance for the benefit of the poor), and
also to do this in respect of the assemblies [20] (for they will deliberate better when all are deliberating
jointly, the common people when with the notables and these when with the masses), and it is also
advantageous for those who deliberate to be elected by vote or by lot equally from the different
sections, and, if the men of the people far exceed the political class in number, it is advantageous either
not to give pay to all but only to as many as are commensurate with the number of the notables, or to
discard by lot those who exceed this number. In oligarchies on the other hand it is advantageous either
to co-opt some persons from the multitude, or to institute an office like the one that exists in certain
constitutional governments under the flame of Preliminary Councillors or Guardians of the Law,52 and
deal with the matters about which these officials have held a preliminary deliberation (for thus the
common people will have a share in deliberation and will not have the power to abolish any part of the
constitution), and then for the people by their vote either to confirm or at all events not to pass anything
contrary to the resolutions brought before them, or to allow all to take part in debate but only the
magistrates to frame resolutions; and in fact it is proper to do just the opposite of what takes place in
constitutionally governed states; for the common people ought to be given power to vote the rejection
of a measure, but not to vote its ratification, but it should be referred back to the magistrates. In
constitutional governments the procedure is the reverse; the few are competent to vote the rejection of
a resolution but are not competent to vote its ratification, this being always referred back to the most
numerous body. [1299a] [1] Let us then decide in this manner about the deliberative body, which in fact
is the sovereign power in the constitution. Connected with this subject is the determination in regard to
the magistracies (for this part of the constitution also has many varieties), how many magistracies there
are to be, and what are to be their powers, and what their various periods of tenure (for some people
make their magistracies tenable for six months, others for less, others for a year and others for a longer
period)shall the magistracies be for life or for a long period, or if for a shorter term shall the same
people be allowed to hold them several times or not the same man twice but once only? and also as to
the appointment of magistrates, who shall be eligible, who the electors, and what the mode of election?
For on all these points it is needful to be able to determine how many modes of procedure are possible,
and then to settle what modes are expedient for what sorts of constitution. Nor is it easy to decide to
what kinds of office the name of magistracy ought to be applied; for the political community requires a
great many officials, owing to which it is not proper to reckon all of them magistrates, whether elected
by vote or by lot,for instance first the priests (for this office must be considered as something different
from the political magistracies), and again there are leaders of choruses, and heralds, and persons are
also elected as ambassadors. [20] And of the offices exercising superintendence some are political, and
are exercised either over the whole of the citizens in regard to some operationfor instance a general
superintends them when serving as soldiers, or over a sectionfor instance the superintendent of
women or of children; while others are economic (for states often elect officers to dole out corn53); and
others are subordinate, and are the sort of services to which people when well off appoint slaves. But
the title of magistracy, to put it simply, is chiefly to be applied to all those offices to which have been
assigned the duties of deliberating about certain matters and of acting as judges and of issuing orders,
and especially the last, for to give orders is most characteristic of authority. But this question is of
virtually no practical importance (for no decision has yet been given, our discussion being merely about
the name), although it does admit of some further inquiry of a speculative kind. On the other hand the
questions what kinds and what number of magistracies are necessary to constitute a state at all, and
what kinds although not necessary are advantageous for a good constitution, are questions that might
preferably be discussed, both indeed as regards every form of constitution and particularly in regard to
the small states. For it is true that in the large states it is possible and proper for one magistracy to be
assigned to one function (for the large number of the citizens makes it possible for many people to enter
on an official career, so as to intermit their tenure of some offices for a long time and to hold others only
once, and also every task is better attended to if the attention is directed to one thing only than if it is
busy with many); [1299b] [1] but in the small states it is inevitable that many offices must be gathered
into few hands (for owing to shortage of manpower it is not easy for many people to be in office, since
who will take over the posts as their successors?). But sometimes small states require the same
magistracies and laws as large ones except that the latter require the same persons to serve often, but in
the former this only occurs after a long interval. Hence it is possible to assign several duties to one man
at the same time (since they will not interfere with one another), and to meet the shortage of man-
power it is necessary to make the magistracies like spit-lampholders.54 If therefore we are able to say
how many magistracies every state must necessarily possess and how many, though not absolutely
necessary, it ought to possess, knowing these points one might more easily make a combination of those
magistracies which are of a suitable nature to be combined into a single office. And it is suitable for the
further question not to be overlooked, what kinds of matters ought to be attended to by a number of
officials locally distributed and what ought to be under the authority of one magistrate for all localities,
for example should good order be seen to in the market-place by a Controller of the Market and
elsewhere by another official, or everywhere by the same one? and ought the offices to be divided
according to the function or according to the persons concernedI mean, for instance, should there be
a single official in control of good order, or a different one [20] for children and for women? and also
under the various constitutions does the nature of the magistracies vary in accordance with each or does
it not vary at allfor example in democracy, oligarchy, aristocracy and monarchy are the magistracies the
same in their powers, although they are not filled from equal ranks nor from similar classes but are
different in different constitutions (for example in aristocracies drawn from the educated, in oligarchies
from the wealthy, and in democracies from the free), or although some constitutions happen to be
correspondent with the actual differences of their magistracies, yet in other cases are the same
magistracies advantageous even where the constitutions differ (for in some places it is suitable for the
same magistracies to have large functions and in other places small ones)? Not but what there are also
some offices peculiar to special forms of constitution, for instance the office of Preliminary
Councillors.55 This is undemocratic, although a Council is a popular body, for there is bound to be some
body of this nature to have the duty of preparing measures for the popular assembly, in order that it
may be able to attend to its business; but a preparatory committee, if small, is oligarchical, and
Preliminary Councillors must necessarily be few in number, so that they are an oligarchical element. But
where both of these magistracies exist, the Preliminary Councillors are in authority over the Councillors,
since a councillor is a democratic official, but a preliminary councillor is an oligarchic one. Also the power
of the Council is weakened in democracies of the sort in which the people in assembly deals with
everything itself; [1300a] [1] and this usually happens when there is a plentiful supply of pay for those
who attend the assembly, for being at leisure they meet frequently and decide all things themselves. But
a Superintendent of Children and a Superintendent of Women, and any other magistrates that exercise a
similar sort of supervision, are an aristocratic feature, and not democratic (for how is it possible to
prevent the wives of the poor from going out of doors56?) nor yet oligarchic (for the wives of oligarchic
rulers are luxurious). But let the discussion of these matters go no further at present, and let us attempt
to go through from the beginning the question of the ways of appointing the magistrates. The varieties
here depend on three determinants, the combinations of which must give all the possible modes. One of
these three determining points is, who are the persons who appoint the magistrates? the second is,
from whom? and last, in what manner? And of each of these three determinants there are three
variations: either all the citizens appoint or some, and either from all or from a certain class (defined for
instance by property-assessment or birth or virtue or some other such qualification, as at Megara only
those were eligible who returned in a body from exile and fought together against the common
people),57 and the mode of appointment may be either by vote or by lot; again, these systems may be
coupled together [20] I mean that some citizens may appoint to some offices but all to others, and to
some offices all citizens may be eligible but to others only a certain class, and to some appointment may
be by vote but to others by lot. And of each variation of these determinants there will be four modes:
either all citizens may appoint from all by vote, or all from all by lotand from all either section by
section, for instance by tribes or demes or brotherhoods until the procedure has gone through all the
citizens, or from the whole number every time,or else partly in one way and partly in the other. Again,
if the electors are some of the citizens, they must either appoint from all by vote, or from all by lot, or
from some by vote, or from some by lot, or partly in one way and partly in the otherI mean partly by
vote and partly by lot. Hence the modes prove to be twelve, apart from the two combinations. And
among these, two ways of appointment are democraticfor all to appoint from all by vote, or by lot, or
by bothsome offices by lot and others by vote; but for not all to be the electors and for them to
appoint simultaneously, and either from all or from some either by lot or by vote or by both, or some
offices from all and others from some by both (by which I mean some by lot and others by vote) is
constitutional. And for some to appoint from all, to some offices by vote and to others by lot or by
both58 (to some by lot and to others by vote) is oligarchical; and it is even more oligarchical to appoint
from both classes. But to appoint some offices from all and the others from a certain class is
constitutional with an aristocratic bias; [1300b] [1] or to appoint some by vote and others by lot. And for
a certain class to appoint from a certain class <by vote>59 is oligarchical, and so it is for a certain class to
appoint from a certain class by lot (although not working out in the same way), and for a certain class to
appoint from a certain class by both methods. And for a certain class to make a preliminary selection
from the whole body and then for all to appoint from among certain persons (thus selected) is
aristocratic. So many in number therefore are the modes of appointing to the magistracies, and this is
how the modes are classified according to the different constitutions; and what regulations are
advantageous for what people and how the appointments ought to be conducted will be made clear at
the same time as we consider what are the powers of the offices. By the power of an office I mean for
instance the control of the revenues and the control of the guard; since a different sort of power belongs
for example to a generalship and to the office that controls market contracts. Of the three factors of a
constitution it remains to speak of the judiciary, and of judicial bodies also we must consider the various
modes, in accordance with the same plan. And a difference among judicial courts rests upon three
determinantsconstituents, sphere of action, and mode of appointment. As to their constituents I mean
are the courts drawn from all the citizens or from a certain class? as to sphere of action, how many kinds
of courts are there? and as to mode of appointment, are they appointed by lot or by vote? First then let
us distinguish how many kinds of courts there are. They are eight in number, one a court of audit, [20]
another to deal with offenders against any public interest, another with matters that bear on the
constitution, a fourth for both magistrates and private persons in disputes about penalties, fifth the
court dealing with private contracts that are on an important scale, and beside these there is (6) the
court that tries homicide, and (7) that which hears alien suits (of courts of homicide there are four kinds,
whether the jury is the same or differentnamely, for cases of deliberate homicide, of involuntary
homicide, of homicide admitted but claimed to be justifiable, and fourth to deal with charges of
homicide brought against men that have fled from the country for homicide, upon their return,60 such
as at Athens for instance the Court at Phreatto is said to be, although such cases are of rare occurrence
in the whole course of history, even in the great states and of the aliens' court one branch hears suits of
aliens against aliens and another of aliens against citizens); and also beside all of these there are (8)
courts to try cases of petty contracts, involving sums of one drachma, five drachmas or a little morefor
even these cases have to be tried, though they are not suitable for a numerous jury. But let us dismiss
the subject of these petty suits, and the courts for homicide and those for aliens, and let us speak about
political trials, which when not well conducted cause party divisions and revolutionary disturbances. And
necessarily either all the judges of all the cases that have been classified will be appointed by vote, or by
lot, or all in all cases partly by lot and partly by vote, or in some cases some judges will be appointed by
lot and others by vote for the same case. [1301a] [1] These modes then are four in number, and the
sectional modes also make as many others; for here again the judges for all cases may be drawn by vote
from a certain class, or for all cases by lot from a certain class, or some courts may be appointed by lot
and others by vote, or some courts may be composed of judges chosen by lot and by vote for the same
cases. These then are the modes, as was said, corresponding to those mentioned. And there are also the
same courts in combinationI mean for example some drawn from the whole body and some from a
class and some from both, as for instance if the same court contained some members from the whole
body and others from a class, and appointed either by lot or by vote or both. We have then stated all the
modes in which it is possible for the courts to be composed; and of these the first set, drawn from all the
citizens and dealing with all cases, are popular, the second, drawn from a certain class to deal with all
cases, are oligarchic, and the third, drawn partly from all and partly from a certain class, are suited to an
aristocracy and to a constitutional government. [1301a] [19] 1Almost all the other subjects which we
intended to treat [20] have now been discussed. There must follow the consideration of the questions,
what are the number and the nature of the causes that give rise to revolutions in constitutions, and what
are the causes that destroy each form of constitution, and out of what forms into what forms do they
usually change, and again what are the safeguards of constitutions in general and of each form in
particular, and what are the means by which the safeguarding of each may best be put into effect.2 And
we must first assume the starting-point, that many forms of constitution have come into existence with
everybody agreeing as to what is just, that is proportionate equality, but failing to attain it (as has also
been said before). Thus democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect they
are equal absolutely (for they suppose that because they are all alike free they are equal absolutely),
oligarchy arose from their assuming that if they are unequal as regards some one thing they are unequal
wholly (for being unequal in property they assume that they are unequal absolutely); and then the
democrats claim as being equal to participate in all things in equal shares, while the oligarchs as being
unequal seek to have a larger share, for a larger share is unequal. All these forms of constitution then
have some element of justice, but from an absolute point of view they are erroneous; and owing to this
cause, when each of the two parties has not got the share in the constitution which accords with the
fundamental assumption that they happen to entertain, faction ensues. And of all men those who excel
in virtue would most justifiably stir up faction, though they are least given to doing so; [1301b] [1] for
they alone can with the fullest reason be deemed absolutely unequal. And there are some men who
being superior in birth claim unequal rights because of this inequality; for persons who have ancestral
virtue and wealth behind them are thought to be noble. These then roughly speaking are the starting-
points and sources of factions, which give rise to party strife (and revolutions due to this take place in
two ways: sometimes they are in regard to the constitution, and aim at changing from the one
established to another, for instance from democracy to oligarchy, or to democracy from oligarchy, or
from these to constitutional government and aristocracy, or from those to these; but sometimes the
revolution is not in regard to the established constitution, but its promoters desire the same form of
government, for instance oligarchy or monarchy, but wish it to be in their own control. Again it may be a
question of degree; for instance, when there is an oligarchy the object may be to change to a more
oligarchical government or to a less, or when there is a democracy to a more or to a less democratic
government, and similarly in the case of the remaining constitutions, the aim may be either to tighten
them up or to relax them. Or again the aim may be to change a certain part of the constitution, for
example to establish or abolish a certain magistracy, as according to some accounts Lysander [20]
attempted to abolish the kingship at Sparta and the king Pausanias the ephorate3; and also at
Epidamnus the constitution was altered in part, for they set up a council instead of the tribal rulers, and
it is still compulsory for the magistrates alone of the class that has political power to come to the popular
assembly when an appointment to a magistracy is put to the vote; and the single supreme magistrate
was also an oligarchical feature in this constitution). For party strife is everywhere due to inequality,
where classes that are unequal do not receive a share of power in proportion (for a lifelong monarchy is
an unequal feature when it exists among equals); for generally the motive for factious strife is the desire
for equality. But equality is of two kinds, numerical equality and equality according to worthby
numerically equal I mean that which is the same and equal in number or dimension, by equal according
to worth that which is equal by proportion4; for instance numerically 3 exceeds 2 and 2 exceeds 1 by an
equal amount, but by proportion 4 exceeds 2 and 2 exceeds 1 equally, since 2 and 1 are equal parts of 4
and 2, both being halves. But although men agree that the absolutely just is what is according to worth,
they disagree (as was said before5) in that some think that if they are equal in something they are wholly
equal, and others claim that if they are unequal in something they deserve an unequal share of all
things. Owing to this two principal varieties of constitution come into existence, democracy and
oligarchy; for noble birth and virtue are found in few men, but the qualifications specified6 in more:
[1302a] [1] nowhere are there a hundred men nobly born and good, but there are rich men7 in many
places. But for the constitution to be framed absolutely and entirely according to either kind of equality
is bad. And this is proved by experience, for not one of the constitutions formed on such lines is
permanent. And the cause of this is that it is impossible for some evil not to occur ultimately from the
first and initial error that has been made. Hence the proper course is to employ numerical equality in
some things and equality according to worth in others. But nevertheless democracy is safer and more
free from civil strife than oligarchy; for in oligarchies two kinds of strife spring up, faction between
different members of the oligarchy and also faction between the oligarchs and the people, whereas in
democracies only strife between the people and the oligarchical party occurs, but party strife between
different sections of the people itself does not occur to any degree worth mentioning. And again the
government formed of the middle classes is nearer to the people than to the few, and it is the safest of
the kinds of constitution mentioned. And since we are considering what circumstances give rise to party
factions and revolutions in constitutions, we must first ascertain their origins and causes generally. They
are, speaking roughly, three in number,8 which we must first define in outline separately. [20] For we
must ascertain what state of affairs gives rise to party strife, and for what objects it is waged, and thirdly
what are the origins of political disorders and internal party struggles. Now the principal cause, speaking
generally, of the citizens being themselves disposed in a certain manner towards revolution is the one
about which we happen to have spoken already. Those that desire equality enter on party strife if they
think that they have too little although they are the equals of those who have more, while those that
desire inequality or superiority do so if they suppose that although they are unequal they have not got
more but an equal amount or less (and these desires may be felt justly, and they may also be felt
unjustly); for when inferior, people enter on strife in order that they may be equal, and when equal, in
order that they may be greater. We have therefore said what are the states of feeling in which men
engage in party strife. The objects about which it is waged are gain and honor, and their opposites, for
men carry on party faction in states in order to avoid dishonor and loss, either on their own behalf or on
behalf of their friends. And the causes and origins of the disturbances which occasion the actual states
of feeling described and their direction to the objects mentioned, according to one account happen to
be seven in number, though according to another they are more. Two of them are the same as those
spoken of before although not operating in the same way: the motives of gain and honor also stir men
up against each other not in order that they may get them for themselves, as has been said before,
[1302b] [1] but because they see other men in some cases justly and in other cases unjustly getting a
larger share of them. Other causes are insolence, fear, excessive predominance, contempt,
disproportionate growth of power; and also other modes of cause9 are election intrigue, carelessness,
pettiness, dissimilarity. Among these motives the power possessed by insolence and gain, and their
mode of operation, is almost obvious; for when the men in office show insolence and greed, people rise
in revolt against one another and against the constitutions that afford the opportunity for such conduct;
and greed sometimes preys on private property and sometimes on common funds. It is clear also what is
the power of honor and how it can cause party faction; for men form factions both when they are
themselves dishonored and when they see others honored; and the distribution of honors is unjust
when persons are either honored or dishonored against their deserts, just when it is according to desert.
Excessive predominance causes faction, when some individual or body of men is greater and more
powerful than is suitable to the state and the power of the government; for such are the conditions that
usually result in the rise of a monarchy or dynasty. Owing to this in some places they have the custom of
temporary banishment,10 as at Argos and Athens; yet it would be better to provide from the outset that
there may be no persons in the state [20] so greatly predominant, than first to allow them to come into
existence and afterwards to apply a remedy. Fear is the motive of faction with those who have inflicted
wrong and are afraid of being punished, and also with those who are in danger of suffering a wrong and
wish to act in time before the wrong is inflicted, as the notables at Rhodes banded together11 against
the people because of the law-suits that were being brought against them. Contempt is a cause of
faction and of actual attacks, upon the government, for instance in oligarchies when those who have no
share in the government are more numerous (for they think themselves the stronger party), and in
democracies when the rich have begun to feel contempt for the disorder and anarchy that prevails, as
for example at Thebes the democracy was destroyed owing to bad government after the battle of
Oenophyta,12 and that of the Megarians was destroyed when they had been defeated owing to disorder
and anarchy,13 and at Syracuse before the tyranny14 of Gelo, and at Rhodes15 the common people had
fallen into contempt before the rising against them. Revolutions in the constitutions also take place on
account of disproportionate growth; for just as the body16 is composed of parts, and needs to grow
proportionately in order that its symmetry may remain, and if it does not it is spoiled, when the foot is
four cubits long and the rest of the body two spans, and sometimes it might even change into the shape
of another animal if it increased disproportionately not only in size but also in quality,17 so also a state is
composed of parts, [1303a] [1] one of which often grows without its being noticed, as for example the
number of the poor in democracies and constitutional states. And sometimes this is also brought about
by accidental occurrences, as for instance at Tarentum when a great many notables were defeated and
killed by the Iapygians a short time after the Persian wars a constitutional government was changed to a
democracy, and at Argos when those in the seventh tribe18 had been destroyed by the Spartan
Cleomenes the citizens were compelled to admit some of the surrounding people, and at Athens when
they suffered disasters by land the notables became fewer because at the time of the war against Sparta
the army was drawn from a muster-roll.19 And this happens also in democracies, though to a smaller
extent; for when the wealthy become more numerous or their properties increase, the governments
change to oligarchies and dynasties.20 And revolutions in constitutions take place even without factious
strife, owing to election intrigue, as at Heraea21 (for they made their magistrates elected by lot instead
of by vote for this reason, because the people used to elect those who canvassed); and also owing to
carelessness, when people allow men that are not friends of the constitution to enter into the sovereign
offices, as at Oreus22 oligarchy was broken up when Heracleodorus became one of the magistrates, who
in place of an oligarchy [20] formed a constitutional government, or rather a democracy. Another cause
is alteration by small stages; by this I mean that often a great change of institutions takes place
unnoticed when people overlook a small alteration, as in Ambracia the property-qualification was small,
and finally men hold office with none at all, as a little is near to nothing, or practically the same. Also
difference of race is a cause of faction, until harmony of spirit is reached; for just as any chance
multitude of people does not form a state, so a state is not formed in any chance period of time. Hence
most of the states that have hitherto admitted joint settlers or additional settlers23 have split into
factions; for example Achaeans settled at Sybaris24 jointly with Troezenians, and afterwards the
Achaeans having become more numerous expelled the Troezenians, which was the Cause of the curse
that fell on the Sybarites; and at Thurii Sybarites quarrelled with those who had settled there with them,
for they claimed to have the larger share in the country as being their own, and were ejected; and at
Byzantium the additional settlers were discovered plotting against the colonists and were expelled by
force of arms; and the people of Antissa25 after admitting the Chian exiles expelled them by arms; and
the people of Zancle26 after admitting settlers from Samos were themselves expelled; and the people of
Apollonia on the Euxine Sea after bringing in additional settlers fell into faction; and the Syracusans after
the period of the tyrants27 [1303b] [1] conferred citizenship on their foreign troops and mercenaries and
then faction set in and they came to battle; and the Amphipolitans having received settlers from Chalcis
were most of them driven out by them.28 (And in oligarchies civil strife is raised by the many, on the
ground that they are treated unjustly because they are not admitted to an equal share although they are
equal, as has been said before, but in democracies it begins with the notables, because they have an
equal share although they are not equal.)29 Also states sometimes enter on faction for geographical
reasons, when the nature of the country is not suited for there being a single city, as for example at
Clazomenae30 the people near Chytrum are in feud with the inhabitants of the island, and the
Colophonians and the Notians31; and at Athens the population is not uniformly democratic in spirit, but
the inhabitants of Piraeus are more so than those of the city. For just as in wars the fording of
watercourses, even quite small ones, causes the formations to lose contact, so every difference seems to
cause division. Thus perhaps the greatest division is that between virtue and vice, next that between
wealth and poverty, and so with other differences in varying degree, one of which is the one
mentioned.32 Factions arise therefore not about but out of small matters; but they are carried on about
great matters. And even the small ones grow extremely violent when they spring up among men of the
ruling class, [20] as happened for example at Syracuse in ancient times. For the constitution underwent a
revolution as a result of a quarrel that arose33 between two young men, who belonged to the ruling
class, about a love affair. While one of them was abroad the other who was his comrade won over the
youth with whom he was in love, and the former in his anger against him retaliated by persuading his
wife to come to him; owing to which they stirred up a party struggle among all the people in the state,
enlisting them on their sides. On account of this it is necessary to guard against such affairs at their
beginning, and to break up the factions of the leaders and powerful men; for the error occurs at the
beginning, and the beginning as the proverb says is half of the whole, so that even a small mistake at the
beginning stands in the same ratio34 to mistakes at the other stages. And in general the faction quarrels
of the notables involve the whole state in the consequences, as happened at Hestiaea35 after the
Persian wars, when two brothers quarrelled about the division of their patrimony; for the poorer of the
two, on the ground that the other would not make a return of the estate and of the treasure that their
father had found, got the common people on his side, and the other possessing much property was
supported by the rich. And at Delphi the beginning of all the factions that occurred afterwards was when
a quarrel arose out of a marriage; [1304a] [1] the bridegroom interpreted some chance occurrence when
he came to fetch the bride as a bad omen and went away without taking her, and her relatives thinking
themselves insulted threw some articles of sacred property into the fire when he was performing a
sacrifice and then put him to death as guilty of sacrilege. And also at Mitylene36 a faction that arose out
of some heiresses was the beginning of many misfortunes, and of the war with the Athenians in which
Paches captured the city of Mitylene: a wealthy citizen named Timophanes left two daughters, and a
man who was rejected in his suit to obtain them for his own sons, Doxander, started the faction and kept
on stirring up the Athenians, whose consul he was at Mitylene. And among the Phocians when a faction
arising out of an heiress sprang up in connection with Mnaseas the father of Mnason and Euthykrates
the father of Onomarchus,37 this faction proved to be the beginning for the Phocians of the Holy War. At
Epidamnus also circumstances relating to a marriage gave rise to a revolution in the constitution38;
somebody had betrothed his daughter, and the father of the man to whom he had betrothed her
became a magistrate, and had to sentence him to a fine; the other thinking that he had been treated
with insolence formed a party of the unenfranchised classes to assist him. And also revolutions to
oligarchy and democracy and constitutional government arise from the growth in reputation or in power
of some magistracy or some section of the state; [20] as for example the Council on the Areopagus
having risen in reputation during the Persian wars was believed to have made the constitution more
rigid, and then again the naval multitude, having been the cause of the victory off Salamis and thereby of
the leadership of Athens due to her power at sea, made the democracy stronger; and at Argos the
notables having risen in repute in connection with the battle against the Spartans at Mantinea took in
hand to put down the people; and at Syracuse the people having been the cause of the victory in the
war against Athens made a revolution from constitutional government to democracy; and at Chalcis the
people with the aid of the notables overthrew the tyrant Phoxus39 and then immediately seized the
government; and again at Ambracia similarly the people joined with the adversaries of the tyrant
Periander in expelling him and then brought the government round to themselves.40 And indeed in
general it must not escape notice that the persons who have caused a state to win power, whether
private citizens or magistrates or tribes, or in general a section or group of any kind, stir up faction; for
either those who envy these men for being honored begin the faction, or these men owing to their
superiority are not willing to remain in a position of equality. And constitutions also undergo revolution
when what are thought of as opposing sections of the state become equal to one another, [1304b] [1]
for instance the rich and the people, and there is no middle class or only an extremely small one; for if
either of the two sections becomes much the superior, the remainder is not willing to risk an encounter
with its manifestly stronger opponent. Owing to this men who are exceptional in virtue generally
speaking do not cause faction, because they find themselves few against many. Universally then in
connection with all the forms of constitution the origins and causes of factions and revolutions are of
this nature. The means used to cause revolutions of constitutions are sometimes force and sometimes
fraud. Force is employed either when the revolutionary leaders exert compulsion immediately from the
start or later onas indeed the mode of using fraud is also twofold: sometimes the revolutionaries after
completely deceiving the people at the first stage alter the constitution with their consent, but then at a
later stage retain their hold on it by force against the people's will: for instance, at the time of the Four
Hundred,41 they deceived the people by saying that the Persian King would supply money for the war
against the Spartans, and after telling them this falsehood endeavored to keep a hold upon the
government; but in other cases they both persuade the people at the start and afterwards repeat the
persuasion and govern them with their consent. Speaking generally therefore in regard to all the forms
of constitution, the causes that have been stated are those from which revolutions have occurred. But in
the light of these general rules we must consider the usual course of events [20] as classified according
to each different kind of constitution. In democracies the principal cause of revolutions is the insolence
of the demagogues; for they cause the owners of property to band together, partly by malicious
prosecutions of individuals among them (for common fear brings together even the greatest enemies),
and partly by setting on the common people against them as a class. And one may see this taking place
in this manner in many instances. In Cos the democracy was overthrown42 when evil demagogues had
arisen there, for the notables banded themselves together; and also in Rhodes,43 for the demagogues
used to provide pay for public services, and also to hinder the payment of money owed44 to the naval
captains, and these because of the lawsuits that were brought against them were forced to make
common cause and overthrow the people. And also at Heraclea45 the people were put down
immediately after the foundation of the colony because of the people's leaders; for the notables being
unjustly treated by them used to be driven out, but later on those who were driven out collecting
together effected their return and put down the people. And also the democracy at Megara was put
down in a similar manner46; the people's leaders in order to have money to distribute to the people
went on expelling many of the notables, until they made the exiles a large body, and these came back
and defeated the people in a battle and set up the oligarchy. And the same thing happened also at Cyme
[1305a] [1] in the time of the democracy which Thrasymachus put down47, and in the case of other
states also examination would show that revolutions take place very much in this manner. Sometimes
they make the notables combine by wronging them in order to curry favor, causing either their estates to
be divided up or their revenues by imposing public services, and sometimes by so slandering them that
they may have the property of the wealthy to confiscate. And in old times whenever the same man
became both leader of the people and general, they used to change the constitution to a tyranny; for
almost the largest number of the tyrants of early days have risen from being leaders of the people. And
the reason why this used to happen then but does not do so now is because then the leaders of the
people were drawn from those who held the office of general (for they were not yet skilled in oratory),
but now when rhetoric has developed the able speakers are leaders of the people, but owing to their
inexperience in military matters they are not put in control of these, except in so far as something of the
kind has taken place to a small extent in some places. And tyrannies also used to occur in former times
more than they do now because important offices were entrusted to certain men, as at Miletus a
tyranny48 arose out of the presidency (for the president had control of many important matters). And
moreover, because the cities in those times were not large but the common people lived on their farms
[20] busily engaged in agriculture, the people's champions when they became warlike used to aim at
tyranny. And they all used to do this when they had acquired the confidence of the people, and their
pledge of confidence was their enmity towards the rich, as at Athens Pisistratus made himself tyrant by
raising up a party against the men of the plain, and Theagenes at Megara by slaughtering the cattle of
the well-to-do which he captured grazing by the river, and Dionysius49 established a claim to become
tyrant when he accused Daphnaeus and the rich, since his hostility to them caused him to be trusted as a
true man of the people. And revolutions also take place from the ancestral form of democracy to one of
the most modern kind; for where the magistracies are elective, but not on property-assessments, and
the people elect, men ambitious of office by acting as popular leaders bring things to the point of the
people's being sovereign even over the laws. A remedy to prevent this or to reduce its extent is for the
tribes to elect the magistrates, and not the people collectively. These then are the causes through which
almost all the revolutions in democracies take place. Oligarchies undergo revolution principally through
two ways that are the most obvious. One is if they treat the multitude unjustly; for anybody makes an
adequate people's champion, and especially so when their leader happens to come from the oligarchy
itself, like Lygdamis at Naxos, who afterwards actually became tyrant of the Naxians. [1305b] [1] Faction
originating with other people also has various ways of arising. Sometimes when the honors of office are
shared by very few, dissolution originates from the wealthy themselves,50 but not those that are in
office, as for example has occurred at Marseilles,51 at Istrus,52 at Heraclea,53 and in other states; for
those who did not share in the magistracies raised disturbances until as a first stage the older brothers
were admitted, and later the younger ones again (for in some places a father and a son may not hold
office together, and in others an elder and a younger brother may not). At Marseilles the oligarchy
became more constitutional, while at Istrus it ended in becoming democracy, and in Heraclea the
government passed from a smaller number to six hundred. At Cnidus also there was a revolution54 of
the oligarchy caused by a faction formed by the notables against one another, because few shared in the
government, and the rule stated held, that if a father was a member a son could not be, nor if there
were several brothers could any except the eldest; for the common people seized the opportunity of
their quarrel and, taking a champion from among the notables, fell upon them and conquered them, for
a party divided against itself is weak. Another case was at Erythrae,55 where at the time of the oligarchy
of the Basilidae in ancient days, although [20] the persons in the government directed affairs well,
nevertheless the common people were resentful because they were governed by a few, and brought
about a revolution of the constitution. On the other hand, oligarchies are overthrown from within
themselves both56 when from motives of rivalry they play the demagogue (and this demagogy is of two
sorts, one among the oligarchs themselves, for a demagogue can arise among them even when they are
a very small body,as for instance in the time of the Thirty at Athens, the party of Charicles rose to
power by currying popularity with the Thirty, and in the time of the Four Hundred57 the party of
Phrynichus rose in the same way,the other when the members of the oligarchy curry popularity with
the mob, as the Civic Guards at Larisa58 courted popularity with the mob because it elected them, and
in all the oligarchies in which the magistracies are not elected by the class from which the magistrates
come but are filled from high property-grades or from political clubs while the electors are the heavy-
armed soldiers or the common people, as used to be the case at Abydos, and in places where the jury-
courts are not made up from the government59for there members of the oligarchy by courting
popular favor with a view to their trials cause a revolution of the constitution, as took place at Heraclea
on the Euxine60; and a further instance is when some men try to narrow down the oligarchy to a smaller
number, for those who seek equality are forced to bring in the people as a helper.) And revolutions in
oligarchy also take place when they squander their private means by riotous living; for also men of this
sort seek to bring about a new state of affairs, and either aim at tyranny themselves or suborn somebody
else [1306a] [1] (as Hipparinus put forward Dionysius61 at Syracuse, and at Amphipolis62 a man named
Cleotimus led the additional settlers that came from Chalcis and on their arrival stirred them up to
sedition against the wealthy, and in Aegina the man who carried out the transactions with Chares
attempted to cause a revolution in the constitution for a reason of this sort63); so sometimes they
attempt at once to introduce some reform, at other times they rob the public funds and in consequence
either they or those who fight against them in their peculations stir up faction against the government,
as happened at Apollonia on the Black Sea. On the other hand, harmonious oligarchy does not easily
cause its own destruction; and an indication of this is the constitutional government at Pharsalus, for
there the ruling class though few are masters of many men64 because on good terms with one another.
Also oligarchical governments break up when they create a second oligarchy within the oligarchy. This is
when, although the whole citizen class is small, its few members are not all admitted to the greatest
offices; this is what once occurred in Elis, for the government being in the hands of a few, very few men
used to become members of the Elders,65 because these numbering ninety held office for life, and the
mode of election was of a dynastic type66 and resembled that of the Elders at Sparta. Revolutions [20]
of oligarchies occur both during war and in time of peace during war since the oligarchs are forced by
their distrust of the people to employ mercenary troops (for the man in whose hands they place them
often becomes tyrant, as Timophanes did at Corinth,67 and if they put several men in command, these
win for themselves dynastic power), and when through fear of this they give a share in the constitution
to the multitude, the oligarchy falls because they are compelled to make use of the common people;
during peace, on the other hand, because of their distrust of one another they place their protection in
the hands of mercenary troops and a magistrate between the two parties, who sometimes becomes
master of both, which happened at Larisa in the time of the government of the Aleuadae led by
Simus,68 and at Abydos in the time of the political clubs of which that of Iphiades was one. And factions
arise also in consequence of one set of the members of the oligarchy themselves being pushed aside by
another set and being driven into party strife in regard to marriages or law-suits; examples of such
disorders arising out of a cause related to marriage are the instances spoken of before, and also the
oligarchy of the knights at Eretria was put down69 by Diagoras when he had been wronged in respect of
a marriage, while the faction at Heraclea and that at Thebes arose out of a judgement of a law-court,
when the people at Heraclea justly but factiously enforced the punishment against Eurytion on a charge
of adultery [1306b] [1] and those at Thebes did so against Archias; for their personal enemies stirred up
party feeling against them so as to get them bound in the pillory in the market-place. Also many
governments have been put down by some of their members who had become resentful because the
oligarchies were too despotic; this is how the oligarchies fell at Cnidus70 and at Chios. And revolutions
also occur from an accident, both in what is called a constitutional government and in those oligarchies
in which membership of the council and the law-courts and tenure of the other offices are based on a
property-qualification. For often the qualification first having been fixed to suit the circumstances of the
time, so that in an oligarchy a few may be members and in a constitutional government the middle
classes, when peace or some other good fortune leads to a good harvest it comes about that the same
properties become worth many times as large an assessment, so that all the citizens share in all the
rights, the change sometimes taking place gradually and little by little and not being noticed, but at other
times more quickly. Such then are the causes that lead to revolutions and factions in oligarchies (and
generally, both democracies and oligarchies are sometimes altered not into the opposite forms of
constitution but into ones of the same class, for instance [20] from legitimate democracies and
oligarchies into autocratic ones and from the latter into the former). In aristocracies factions arise in
some cases because few men share in the honors (which has also been said71 to be the cause of
disturbances in oligarchies, because an aristocracy too is a sort of oligarchy, for in both those who govern
are fewalthough the reason for this is not the same in bothsince this does cause it to be thought
that aristocracy is a form of oligarchy). And this is most bound to come about when there is a
considerable number of people who are proud-spirited on the ground of being equals in virtue (for
example the clan called the Maidens' Sons72 at Spartafor they were descended from the Equals
whom the Spartans detected in a conspiracy and sent away to colonize Tarentum); or when individuals
although great men and inferior to nobody in virtue are treated dishonorably by certain men in higher
honor (for example Lysander by the kings73); or when a person of manly nature has no share in the
honors (for example Cinadon,74 who got together the attack upon the Spartans in the reign of
Agesilaus). Faction in aristocracies also arises when some of the well-born are too poor and others too
rich (which happens especially during wars, and this also occurred at Sparta at the time of the
Messenian Waras appears from the poem of Tyrtaeus entitledLaw and Order; [1307a] [1] for some
men being in distress because of the war put forward a claim to carry out a re-division of the land of the
country). Also if a man is great and capable of being yet greater, he stirs up faction in order that he may
be sole ruler (as Pausanias who commanded the army through the Persian war seems to have done at
Sparta, and Hanno75 at Carthage). But the actual overthrow of both constitutional governments and
aristocracies is mostly due to a departure from justice in the actual framework of the constitution. For
what starts it in the case of a constitutional government is that it does not contain a good blend of
democracy and oligarchy; and in the case of an aristocracy it is the lack of a good blend of those two
elements and of virtue, but chiefly of the two elements (I mean popular government and oligarchy), for
both constitutional governments and most of the constitutions that are called aristocracies aim at
blending these. For this76 is the point of distinction between aristocracies and what are called
constitutional governments, and it is owing to this that some of them77 are less and others more stable;
for the constitutions inclining more towards oligarchy men call aristocracies and those inclining more to
the side of the multitude constitutional governments, owing to which those of the latter sort are more
secure than the others, for the greater number is the stronger, and also men are more content when
they have an equal amount, whereas the owners of wealthy properties, if the constitution gives them
the superior position, [20] seek to behave insolently and to gain money. And speaking broadly, to
whichever side the constitution leans, that is the side to which it shifts as either of the two parties
increases its own sidea constitutional government shifts to democracy and an aristocracy to oligarchy,
or to the opposite extremes, that is, aristocracy to democracy (for the poorer people feeling they are
unjustly treated pull it round to the opposite) and constitutional governments to oligarchy (for the only
lasting thing is equality in accordance with desert and the possession of what is their own). And the
change mentioned78 came about at Thurii, for because the property-qualification for honors was too
high, the constitution was altered to a lower property-qualification and to a larger number of official
posts, but because the notables illegally bought up the whole of the land (for the constitution was too
oligarchical, so that they were able to grasp at wealth) . . .79 And the people having been trained in the
war overpowered the guards, until those who were in the position of having too much land relinquished
it. Besides, as all aristocratic constitutions are inclined towards oligarchy, the notables grasp at wealth
(for example at Sparta the estates are coming into a few hands); and the notables have more power to
do what they like, and to form marriage connections with whom they like (which was the cause of the
fall of the state of Locri, as a result of the marriage with Dionysius,80 which would not have taken place
in a democracy; nor in a well-blended aristocracy). [1307b] [1] And aristocracies are most liable to
undergo revolution unobserved, through gradual relaxation, just as it has been said in what has gone
before about all forms of constitution in general, that even a small change may cause a revolution. For
when they give up one of the details of the constitution, afterwards they also make another slightly
bigger change more readily, until they alter the whole system. This occurred for instance with the
constitution of Thurii. There was a law that the office of general could be held at intervals of four years,
but some of the younger men, becoming warlike and winning high repute with the mass of the guards,
came to despise the men engaged in affairs, and thought that they would easily get control; so first they
tried to repeal the law referred to, so as to enable the same persons to serve as generals continuously, as
they saw that the people would vote for themselves with enthusiasm. And though the magistrates in
charge of this matter, called the Councillors, at first made a movement to oppose them, they were won
over, believing that after repealing this law they would allow the rest of the constitution to stand; but
later, though they wished to prevent them when other laws were being repealed, they could no longer
do anything more, but the whole system of the constitution was converted into a dynasty of the men
who had initiated the innovations. And constitutions of all forms [20] are broken up some times from
movements initiating from within themselves, but sometimes from outside, when there is an opposite
form of constitution either near by or a long way off yet possessed of power. This used to happen in the
days of the Athenians and the Spartans; the Athenians used to put down oligarchies everywhere and the
Spartans democracies. We have then approximately stated the causes that give rise to revolutions in the
constitutions of states and to party factions. The next thing to speak about is security both in general
and for each form of constitution separately. First then it is clear that if we know the causes by which
constitutions are destroyed we also know the causes by which they are preserved; for opposites create
opposites, and destruction is the opposite of security. In well-blended constitutions therefore, if care
must be taken to prevent men from committing any other breach of the law, most of all must a small
breach be guarded against, for transgression of the law creeps in unnoticed, just as a small expenditure
occurring often ruins men's estates; for the expense is not noticed because it does not come all at once,
for the mind is led astray by the repeated small outlays, just like the sophistic puzzle, if each is little,
then all are a little.81 This is true in one way but in another it is not; for the whole or total is not little,
but made up of little parts. One thing therefore that we must guard against is this beginning; and the
next point is that we must not put faith in the arguments strung together for the sake of tricking the
multitude, [1308a] [1] for they are refuted by the facts (and what sort of constitutional sophistries we
refer to has been said before). And again we must observe that not only some aristocracies but also
some oligarchies endure not because the constitutions are secure but because those who get in the
offices treat both those outside the constitution and those in the government well, on the one hand by
not treating those who are not members of it unjustly and by bringing their leading men into the
constitution and not wronging the ambitious ones in the matter of dishonor or the multitude in the
matter of gain, and on the other hand, in relation to themselves and those who are members, by
treating one another in a democratic spirit. For that equality which men of democratic spirit seek for in
the case of the multitude is not only just but also expedient in the case of their compeers. Hence if there
are a greater number in the governing class, many of the legislative enactments of a democratic nature
are advantageous, for example for the offices to be tenable for six months, to enable all the compeers to
participate in them; for the compeers in this case are as it were the people (owing to which demagogues
often arise even among them, as has been said already), and also oligarchies and aristocracies fall into
dynasties less (for it is not so easy to do wrongs [20] when in office for a short time as when in for a long
time, since it is long tenure of office that causes tyrannies to spring up in oligarchies and democracies;
for either those who are the greatest men in either sort of state aim at tyranny, in the one sort the
demagogues and in the other the dynasts, or those who hold the greatest offices, when they are in office
for along time). And constitutions are kept secure not only through being at a distance from destroyers
but sometimes also through being near them,82 for when they are afraid the citizens keep a closer hold
on the government; hence those who take thought for the constitution must contrive causes of fear, in
order that the citizens may keep guard and not relax their vigilance for the constitution like a watch in
the night, and they must make the distant near. Again, they must also endeavor to guard against the
quarrels and party struggles of the notables by means of legislation, and to keep out those who are
outside the quarrel before they too have taken it over; since to discern a growing evil at the
commencement is not any ordinary person's work but needs a statesman. And to deal with the
revolution from oligarchy and constitutional government that arises because of the property-
qualifications, when this occurs while the rates of qualification remain the same but money is becoming
plentiful, it is advantageous to examine the total amount of the rated value of the community as
compared with the past amount, in states where the assessment is made yearly, over that period,
[1308b] [1] and three years or five years ago in the larger states, and if the new total is many times larger
or many times smaller than the former one at the time when the rates qualifying for citizenship were
fixed, it is advantageous that there should be a law for the magistrates correspondingly to tighten up or
to relax the rates, tightening them up in proportion to the ratio of increase if the new total rated value
exceeds the old, and relaxing them and making the qualification lower if the new total falls below the
old. For in oligarchies and constitutional states, when they do not do this, in the one case83 the result is
that in the latter an oligarchy comes into existence and in the former a dynasty, and in the other case84 a
constitutional government turns into a democracy and an oligarchy into a constitutional government or a
government of the people. But it is a policy common to democracy and oligarchy [and to monarchy],85
and every form of constitution not to raise up any man too much beyond due proportion, but rather to
try to assign small honors and of long tenure or great ones quickly86 (for officials grow corrupt, and not
every man can bear good fortune), or if not, at all events not to bestow honors in clusters and take them
away again in clusters, but by a gradual process; and best of all to try so to regulate people by the law
that there may be nobody among them specially pre-eminent in power due to friends or wealth, or,
failing this, to cause their periods out of office to be spent abroad. [20] And since men also cause
revolutions through their private lives, some magistracy must be set up to inspect those whose mode of
living is unsuited to the constitutionunsuited to democracy in a democracy, to oligarchy in an oligarchy,
and similarly for each of the other forms of constitution. And also sectional prosperity in the state must
be guarded against for the same reasons; and the way to avert this is always to entrust business and
office to the opposite sections (I mean that the respectable are opposite to the multitude and the poor
to the wealthy), and to endeavor either to mingle together the multitude of the poor and that of the
wealthy or to increase the middle class (for this dissolves party factions due to inequality). And in every
form of constitution it is a very great thing for it to be so framed both by its laws and by its other
institutions that it is impossible for the magistracies to make a profit. And this has most to be guarded
against in oligarchies; for the many are not so much annoyed at being excluded from holding office (but
in fact they are glad if somebody lets them have leisure to spend on their own affairs) as they are if they
think that the magistrates are stealing the common funds, but then both things annoy them, exclusion
from the honors of office and exclusion from its profits. And indeed the sole way in which a combination
of democracy and aristocracy is possible is if someone could contrive this arrangement87; [1309a] [1] for
it would then be possible for the notables and also the multitude both to have what they want; for it is
the democratic principle for all to have the right to hold office and the aristocratic one for the offices to
be filled by the notables, and this will be the case when it is impossible to make money from office; for
the poor will not want to hold office because of making nothing out of it, but rather to attend to their
own affairs, while the wealthy will be able to hold office because they have no need to add to their
resources from the public funds; so that the result will be that the poor will become well-off through
spending their time upon their work, and the notables will not be governed by any casual persons.
Therefore to prevent peculation of the public property, let the transfer of the funds take place in the
presence of all the citizens, and let copies of the lists be deposited for each brotherhood,88 company89
and tribe; and to get men to hold office without profit there must be honors assigned by law to officials
of good repute. And in democracies it is necessary to be sparing of the wealthy not only by not causing
properties to be divided up, but not incomes either (which under some constitutions takes place
unnoticed), and it is better to prevent men from undertaking costly but useless public services like
equipping choruses and torch-races90 and all other similar services, even if they wish to; [20] in an
oligarchy on the other hand it is necessary to take much care of the poor, and to allot to them the offices
of profit, and the penalty if one of the rich commits an outrage against them must be greater than if it is
done by one of themselves,91 and inheritance must not go by bequest but by family, and the same man
must not inherit more than one estate, for so estates would be more on a level, and more of the poor
would establish themselves as prosperous. And it is expedient both in a democracy and in an oligarchy to
assign to those who have a smaller share in the governmentin a democracy to the wealthy and in an
oligarchy to the pooreither equality or precedence in all other things excepting the supreme offices of
state; but these should be entrusted to those prescribed by the constitution exclusively, or to them for
the most part. There are some three qualities which those who are to hold the supreme magistracies
ought to possess, first, loyalty to the established constitution, next, very great capacity to do the duties
of the office, and third, virtue and justicein each constitution the sort of justice suited to the
constitution (for if the rules of justice are not the same under all constitutions, it follows that there must
be differences in the nature of justice also). It is a difficult question how the choice ought to be made
when it happens that all these qualities are not found in the same person; [1309b] [1] for instance, if one
man is a good military commander but a bad man and no friend of the constitution, and the other is just
and loyal, how should the choice be made? It seems that two things ought to be considered, what is the
quality of which all men have a larger share, and what the one of which all have a smaller share?
Therefore in the case of military command one must consider experience more than virtue, for men
have a smaller share of military experience and a larger share of moral goodness; but in the case of a
trusteeship or a stewardship the opposite, for these require more virtue than most men possess, but the
knowledge required is common to all men. And somebody might raise the question, why is virtue
needed if both capacity and loyalty to the constitution are forthcoming, as even these two qualities will
do what is suitable? May not the answer be, because those who possess these two qualities may
possibly lack self-control, so that just as they do not serve themselves well although they know how to
and although they love themselves, so possibly in some cases they may behave in this way in regard to
the community also? And broadly, whatever provisions in the laws we describe as advantageous to
constitutions, these are all preservative of the constitutions, and so is the supreme elementary principle
that has been often stated, that of taking precautions that the section desirous of the constitution shall
be stronger in numbers than the section not desirous off it. And beside all these matters one thing must
not be overlooked which at present is overlooked by the, deviation-forms92 of constitutionthe middle
party; [20] for many of the institutions thought to be popular destroy democracies, and many of those
thought oligarchical destroy oligarchies. But the adherents of the deviation-form, thinking that this form
is the only right thing, drag it to excess, not knowing that just as there can be a nose that although
deviating from the most handsome straightness towards being hooked or snub nevertheless is still
beautiful and agreeable to look at, yet all the same, if a sculptor carries it still further in the direction of
excess, he will first lose the symmetry of the feature and finally will make it not even look like a nose at
all, because of its excess and deficiency in the two opposite qualities (and the same is the ease also in
regard to the other parts of the body), so this is what happens about constitutions likewise; for it is
possible for an oligarchy and a democracy to be satisfactory although they have diverged from the best
structure, but if one strains either of them further, first he will make the constitution worse, and finally
he will make it not a constitution at all. Therefore the legislator and the statesman must not fail to know
what sort of democratic institutions save and what destroy a democracy, and what sort of oligarchical
institutions an oligarchy; for neither constitution can exist and endure without the well-to-do and the
multitude, but when an even level of property comes about, the constitution resulting must of necessity
be another one, [1310a] [1] so that when men destroy these classes by laws carried to excess they
destroy the constitutions. And a mistake is made both in democracies and in oligarchiesin democracies
by the demagogues, where the multitude is supreme over the laws; for they always divide the state into
two by fighting with the well-to-do, but they ought on the contrary always to pretend to be speaking on
behalf of men that are well-to-do, while in democracies the oligarchical statesmen ought to pretend to
be speaking on behalf of the people, and the oligarchics ought to take oath in terms exactly opposite to
those which they use now, for at present in some oligarchies they swear, And I will be hostile to the
people and will plan whatever evil I can against them,93 but they ought to hold, and to act the part of
holding, the opposite notion, declaring in their oaths, I will not wrong the people. But the greatest of
all the means spoken of to secure the stability of constitutions is one that at present all people despise: it
is a system of education suited to the constitutions. For there is no use in the most valuable laws, ratified
by the unanimous judgement of the whole body of citizens, if these are not trained and educated in the
constitution, popularly if the laws are popular, oligarchically if they are oligarchical; for there is such a
thing as want of self-discipline in a state, as well as in an individual.But to have been educated [20] to
suit the constitution does not mean to do the things that give pleasure to the adherents of oligarchy or
to the supporters of democracy, but the things that will enable the former to govern oligarchically and
the latter to govern themselves democratically. But at present in the oligarchies the sons of the rulers are
luxurious, and the sons of the badly-off become trained by exercise and labor, so that they are both
more desirous of reform and more able to bring it about; while in the democracies thought to be the
most democratic the opposite of what is expedient has come about. And the cause of this is that they
define liberty wrongly (for there are two things that are thought to be defining features of democracy,
the sovereignty of the majority and liberty); for justice is supposed to be equality, and equality the
sovereignty of what ever may have been decided by the multitude, and liberty doing just what one likes.
Hence in democracies of this sort everybody lives as he likes, and unto what end he listeth, as
Euripides94 says. But this is bad; for to live in conformity with the constitution ought not to be
considered slavery but safety. This therefore, speaking broadly, is a list of the things that cause the
alteration and the destruction of constitutions, and of those that cause their security and continuance.
It remains to speak of monarchy, the causes that destroy it and the natural means of its preservation.
[1310b] [1] And the things that happen about royal governments and tyrannies are almost similar to
those that have been narrated about constitutional governments. For royal government corresponds
with aristocracy, while tyranny is a combination of the last form of oligarchy95 and of democracy; and for
that very reason it is most harmful to its subjects, inasmuch as it is a combination of two bad things, and
is liable to the deviations and errors that spring from both forms of constitution. And these two different
sorts of monarchy have their origins from directly opposite sources; royalty has come into existence for
the assistance of the distinguished against the people, and a king is appointed from those distinguished
by superiority in virtue or the actions that spring from virtue, or by superiority in coming from a family of
that character, while a tyrant is set up from among the people and the multitude to oppose the notables,
in order that the people may suffer no injustice from them. And this is manifest from the facts of history.
For almost the greatest number of tyrants have risen, it may be said, from being demagogues, having
won the people's confidence by slandering the notables. For some tyrannies were set up in this manner
when the states had already grown great, but others that came before them arose from kings departing
from the ancestral customs and aiming at a more despotic rule, [20] and others from the men elected to
fill the supreme magistracies (for in old times the peoples used to appoint the popular officials96 and the
sacred embassies97 for long terms of office), and others from oligarchies electing some one supreme
official for the greatest magistracies. For in all these methods they had it in their power to effect their
purpose easily, if only they wished, because they already possessed the power of royal rule in the one
set of cases and of their honorable office in the other, for example Phidon in Argos98 and others became
tyrants when they possessed royal power already, while the Ionian tyrants99 and Phalaris100 arose from
offices of honor, and Panaetius at Leontini and Cypselus at Corinth and Pisistratus101 at Athens and
Dionysius102 at Syracuse and others in the same manner from the position of demagogue. Therefore, as
we said, royalty is ranged in correspondence with aristocracy, for it goes by merit, either by private virtue
or by family or by services or by a combination of these things and ability. For in every instance this
honor fell to men after they had conferred benefit or because they had the ability to confer benefit on
their cities or their nations, some having prevented their enslavement in war, for instance Codrus,103
others having set them free, for instance Cyrus,104 or having settled or acquired territory, for instance
the kings of Sparta and Macedon and the Molossians.105 And a king wishes to be a guardian, [1311a] [1]
to protect the owners of estates from suffering injustice and the people from suffering insult, but
tyranny, as has repeatedly been said, pays regard to no common interest unless for the sake of its private
benefit; and the aim of tyranny is what is pleasant, that of royalty what is noble. Hence even in their
requisitions money is the aim of tyrants but rather marks of honor that of kings; and a king's body-guard
consists of citizens, a tyrant's of foreign mercenaries. And it is manifest that tyranny has the evils of both
democracy and oligarchy; it copies oligarchy in making wealth its object (for inevitably that is the only
way in which the tyrant's body-guard and his luxury can be kept up) and in putting no trust in the
multitude (which is why they resort to the measure of stripping the people of arms, and why ill-
treatment of the mob and its expulsion from the city and settlement in scattered places is common to
both forms of government, both oligarchy and tyranny), while it copies democracy in making war on the
notables and destroying them secretly and openly and banishing them as plotting against it and
obstructive to its rule. For it is from them that counter-movements actually spring, some of them
wishing themselves to rule, and others not [20] to be slaves. Hence comes the advice of Periander to
Thrasybulus,106 his docking of the prominent cornstalks, meaning that the prominent citizens must
always be made away with. Therefore, as was virtually stated,107 the causes of revolutions in
constitutional and in royal governments must be deemed to be the same; for subjects in many cases
attack monarchies because of unjust treatment and fear and contempt, and among the forms of unjust
treatment most of all because of insolence, and sometimes the cause is the seizure of private property.
Also the objects aimed at by the revolutionaries in the case both of tyrannies and of royal governments
are the same as in revolts against constitutional government; for monarchs possess great wealth and
great honor, which are desired by all men. And in some cases the attack is aimed at the person of the
rulers, in others at their office. Risings provoked by insolence are aimed against the person; and though
insolence has many varieties, each of them gives rise to anger, and when men are angry they mostly
attack for the sake of revenge, not of ambition. For example the attack on the Pisistratidae took place
because they outraged Harmodius's sister and treated Harmodius with contumely (for Harmodius
attacked them because of his sister and Aristogiton because of Harmodius, and also the plot was laid
against Periander the tyrant in Ambracia108 because when drinking [1311b] [1] with his favorite he
asked him if he was yet with child by him),and the attack on Philip by Pausanias109 was because he
allowed him to be insulted by Attalus and his friends, and that on Amyntas the Little110 by Derdas
because he mocked at his youth, and the attack of the eunuch on Evagoras of Cyprus was for revenge,
for he murdered him as being insulted, because Evagoras's son had taken away his wife. And many
risings have also occurred because of shameful personal indignities committed by certain monarchs. One
instance is the attack of Crataeas on Archelaus111; for he was always resentful of the association, so that
even a smaller excuse became sufficient, or perhaps it was because he did not give him the hand of one
of his daughters after agreeing to do so, but gave the elder to the king of Elimea when hard pressed in a
war against Sirras and Arrabaeus, and the younger to his son Amyntas, thinking that thus Amyntas would
be least likely to quarrel with his son by Cleopatra; but at all events Crataeas's estrangement was
primarily caused by resentment because of the love affair. And Hellanocrates of Larisa also joined in the
attack for the same reason; for because while enjoying his favors Archelaus would not restore him to his
home although he had promised to do so, he thought that the motive of the familiarity that had taken
place [20] had been insolence and not passionate desire. And Pytho and Heraclides of Aenus made away
with Cotys112 to avenge their father, and Adamas revolted from Cotys because he had been mutilated
by him when a boy, on the ground of the insult. And also many men when enraged by the indignity of
corporal chastisement have avenged the insult by destroying or attempting to destroy its author, even
when a magistrate or member of a royal dynasty. For example when the Penthilidae113 at Mitylene
went about striking people with their staves Megacles with his friends set on them and made away with
them, and afterwards Smerdis when he had been beaten and dragged out from his wife's presence killed
Penthilus. Also Decamnichus took a leading part in the attack upon Archelaus, being the first to stir on
the attackers; and the cause of his anger was that he had handed him over to Euripides the poet to flog,
Euripides being angry because he had made a remark about his breath smelling. And many others also
for similar reasons have been made away with or plotted against. And similarly also from the motive of
fear; for this was one of the causes we mentioned in the case of monarchies, as also in that of
constitutional governments; for instance Artapanes114 killed Xerxes fearing the charge about Darius,
because he had hanged him when Xerxes had ordered him not to but he had thought that he would
forgive him because he would forget, as he had been at dinner. And other attacks on monarchs have
been on account of contempt, [1312a] [1] as somebody killed Sardanapallus115 when he saw him
combing his hair with his women (if this story told by the narrators of legends is trueand if it did not
happen with Sardanapallus, it might quite well be true of somebody else), and Dion attacked the
younger Dionysius116 because he despised him, when he saw the citizens despising him and the king
himself always drunk. And contempt has led some even of the friends of monarchs to attack them, for
they despise them for trusting them and think they will not be found out. And contempt is in a manner
the motive of those who attack monarchs thinking that they are able to seize the government; for they
make the attempt with a light heart, feeling that they have the power and because of their power
despising the danger, as generals commanding the armies attack their monarchs; for instance Cyrus
attacked Astyages117 when he despised both his mode of life and his power, because his power had
waned and he himself was living luxuriously, and the Thracian Seuthes attacked Amadocus118 when his
general. Others again attack monarchs for more than one of these motives, for instance both because
they despise them and for the sake of gain, as Mithridates119 attacked Ariobarzanes.120 And it is men
of bold nature and who hold a military office with monarchs who most often make the attempt for this
reason; for courage possessing power is boldness, [20] and they make their attacks thinking that with
courage and power they will easily prevail. But with those whose attack is prompted by ambition the
motive operates in a different way from those spoken of before; some men attack tyrants because they
see great profits and great honors belonging to them, but that is not the reason that in each case leads
the persons who attack from motives of ambition to resolve on the venture; those others are led by the
motive stated, but these attack monarchs from a wish to gain not monarchy but glory, just as they would
wish to take part in doing any other uncommon deed that makes men famous and known to their
fellows. Not but what those who make the venture from this motive are very few indeed in number, for
underlying it there must be an utter disregard of safety, if regard for safety is not to check the enterprise;
they must always have present in their minds the opinion of Dion, although it is not easy for many men
to have it; Dion marched with a small force against Dionysius, saying that his feeling was that, whatever
point he might be able to get to, it would be enough for him to have had that much share in the
enterprisefor instance, if it should befall him to die as soon as he had just set foot in the country, that
death would satisfy him. And one way in which tyranny is destroyed, as is each of the other forms of
constitution also, is from without, [1312b] [1] if some state with an opposite constitution is stronger (for
the wish to destroy it will clearly be present in such a neighbor because of the opposition of principle,
and all men do what they wish if they have the power)and the constitutions opposed to tyranny are,
on the one hand democracy, which is opposed to it as (in Hesiod's phrase121) potter to potter, because
the final form of democracy is tyranny, and on the other hand royalty and aristocracy are opposed to
tyranny because of the opposite nature of their constitutional structure (owing to which the Spartans
put down a very great many tyrannies, and so did the Syracusans at the period when they were
governed well.) But one way is from within itself, when the partners in it fall into discord, as the tyranny
of the family of Gelo122 was destroyed, and in modern times123 that of the family of Dionysius124
Gelo's, when Thrasybulus the brother of Hiero paid court to the son of Gelo and urged him into
indulgences in order that he himself might rule, and the son's connections banded together a body of
confederates in order that the tyranny might not be put down entirely but only Thrasybulus, but their
confederates seizing the opportunity expelled them all; Dionysius was put down by Dion, his relative,
who got the people on to his side and expelled him, but was afterwards killed. There are two causes that
chiefly lead men to attack tyranny, hatred and contempt; the former, hatred, [20] attaches to tyrants
always, but it is their being despised that causes their downfall in many cases. A proof of this is that most
of those that have won tyrannies have also kept their offices to the end, but those that have inherited
them almost all lose them at once; for they live a life of indulgence, and so become despicable and also
give many opportunities to their attackers. And also anger must be counted as an element in the hatred
felt for them, for in a way it occasions the same actions. And often it is even more active than hatred,
since angry men attack more vigorously because passion does not employ calculation (and insolence
most frequently causes men to be led by their angry tempers, which was the cause of the fall of the
tyranny of the Pisistratidae and many others), but hatred calculates more; for anger brings with it an
element of pain, making calculation difficult, but enmity is not accompanied by pain. And to speak
summarily, all the things that we have mentioned as causing the down fall of unmixed and extreme
oligarchy and of the last form of democracy must be counted as destructive of tyranny as well, since
extreme oligarchy and democracy are in reality divided125 tyrannies. Royal government on the other
hand is very seldom destroyed by external causes, so that it is long-lasting; but in most cases its
destruction arises out of itself. And it is destroyed in two ways, [1313a] [1] one when those who
participate in it quarrel, and another when the kings try to administer the government too tyrannically,
claiming to exercise sovereignty in more things and contrary to the law. Royal governments do not occur
any more now, but if ever monarchies do occur they are rather tyrannies, because royalty is government
over willing subjects but with sovereignty over greater matters, but men of equal quality are numerous
and no one is so outstanding as to fit the magnitude and dignity of the office; so that for this reason the
subjects do not submit willingly, and if a man has made himself ruler by deception or force, then this is
thought to be a tyranny. In cases of hereditary royalty we must also set down a cause of their
destruction, in addition to those mentioned, the fact that hereditary kings often become despicable, and
that although possessing not the power of a tyrant but the dignity of a king they commit insolent
outrages; for the deposition of kings used to be easy, since a king will at once cease to be king if his
subjects do not wish him to be, whereas a tyrant will still be tyrant even though his subjects do not wish
it. These causes then and others of the same nature are those that bring about the destruction of
monarchies. On the other hand it is clear that monarchies, speaking generally, are preserved in safety as
a result of the opposite causes to those by which they are destroyed. But taking the different sorts of
monarchy separatelyroyalties are preserved by bringing them [20] into a more moderate form; for the
fewer powers the kings have, the longer time the office in its entirety must last, for they themselves
become less despotic and more equal to their subjects in temper, and their subjects envy them less. For
this was the cause of the long persistence of the Molossian royalty, and that of Sparta has continued
because the office was from the beginning divided into two halves, and because it was again limited in
various ways by Theopompus,126 in particular by his instituting the office of the ephors to keep a check
upon it; for by taking away some of the kings' power he increased the permanence of the royal office, so
that in a manner he did not make it less but greater. This indeed as the story goes is what he said in reply
to his wife, when she asked if he felt no shame in bequeathing the royal power to his sons smaller than
he had inherited it from his father: Indeed I do not, he is said to have answered, for I hand it on more
lasting. Tyrannies on the other hand are preserved in two extremely opposite ways. One of these is the
traditional way and the one in which most tyrants administer their office. Most of these ordinary
safeguards of tyranny are said to have been instituted by Periander127 of Corinth, and also many such
devices may be borrowed from the Persian empire. These are both the measures mentioned some time
back to secure the safety of a tyranny as far as possiblethe lopping off of outstanding men and the
destruction of the proud,and also the prohibition of common meals and club-fellowship and education
and all other things of this nature, [1313b] [1] in fact the close watch upon all things that usually
engender the two emotions of pride and confidence, and the prevention of the formation of study-
circles and other conferences for debate,128 and the employment of every means that will make people
as much as possible unknown to one another (for familiarity increases mutual confidence); and for the
people in the city to be always visible and to hang about the palace-gates (for thus there would be least
concealment about what they are doing, and they would get into a habit of being humble from always
acting in a servile way); and all the other similar devices of Persian and barbarian tyranny (for all have
the same effect); and to try not to be uninformed about any chance utterances or actions of any of the
subjects, but to have spies like the women called provocatrices at Syracuse and the sharp-ears that
used to be sent out by Hiero wherever there was any gathering or conference (for when men are afraid
of spies of this sort they keep a check on their tongues, and if they do speak freely are less likely not to
be found out); and to set men at variance with one another and cause quarrels between friend and
friend and between the people and the notables and among the rich. And it is a device of tyranny to
make the subjects poor, so that a guard129 [20] may not be kept, and also that the people being busy
with their daily affairs may not have leisure to plot against their ruler. Instances of this are the pyramids
in Egypt and the votive offerings of the Cypselids,130 and the building of the temple of Olympian Zeus by
the Pisistratidae131 and of the temples at Samos, works of Polycrates132 (for all these undertakings
produce the same effect, constant occupation and poverty among the subject people); and the levying of
taxes, as at Syracuse (for in the reign of Dionysius133 the result of taxation used to be that in five years
men had contributed the whole of their substance). Also the tyrant is a stirrer-up of war, with the
deliberate purpose of keeping the people busy and also of making them constantly in need of a leader.
Also whereas friends are a means of security to royalty, it is a mark of a tyrant to be extremely distrustful
of his friends, on the ground that, while all have the wish, these chiefly have the power. Also the things
that occur in connection with the final form of democracy134 are all favorable to tyrannydominance of
women in the homes, in order that they may carry abroad reports against the men, and lack of discipline
among the slaves, for the same reason; for slaves and women do not plot against tyrants, and also, if
they prosper under tyrannies, must feel well-disposed to them, and to democracies as well (for the
common people also wishes to be sole ruler). Hence also the flatterer is in honor with bothwith
democracies the demagogue (for the demagogue is a flatterer of the people), and with the tyrants those
who associate with them humbly, which is the task of flattery. [1314a] [1] In fact owing to this tyranny is
a friend of the base; for tyrants enjoy being flattered, but nobody would ever flatter them if he
possessed a free spiritmen of character love their ruler, or at all events do not flatter him. And the
base are useful for base business, for nail is driven out by nail, as the proverb goes.135 And it is a mark
of a tyrant to dislike anyone that is proud or free-spirited; for the tyrant claims for himself alone the right
to bear that character, and the man who meets his pride with pride and shows a free spirit robs tyranny
of its superiority and position of mastery; tyrants therefore hate the proud as undermining their
authority. And it is a mark of a tyrant to have men of foreign extraction rather than citizens as guests at
table and companions, feeling that citizens are hostile but strangers make no claim against him.136
These and similar habits are characteristic of tyrants and preservative of their office, but they lack no
element of baseness. And broadly speaking, they are all included under three heads; for tyranny aims at
three things, one to keep its subjects humble (for a humble-spirited man would not plot against
anybody), second to have them continually distrust one another (for a tyranny is not destroyed until
some men come to trust each other, owing to which tyrants also make war on the respectable, as
detrimental [20] to their rule not only because of their refusal to submit to despotic rule, but also
because they are faithful to one another and to the other citizens, and do not inform against one
another nor against the others); and the third is lack of power for political action (since nobody attempts
impossibilities, so that nobody tries to put down a tyranny if he has not power behind him). These then
in fact are the three aims to which the wishes of tyrants are directed; for all the measures taken by
tyrants one might class under these principlessome are designed to prevent mutual confidence among
the subjects, others to curtail their power, and others to make them humble-spirited. Such then is the
nature of one method by which security is obtained for tyrannies. The other tries to operate in a manner
almost the opposite of the devices mentioned. And it can be ascertained from considering the downfall
of royal governments. For just as one mode of destroying royalty is to make its government more
tyrannical, so a mode of securing tyranny is to make it more regal, protecting one thing only, its power, in
order that the ruler may govern not only with the consent of the subjects but even without it; for if he
gives up this, he also gives up his position as tyrant. But while this must stand as a fundamental principle,
all the other measures he may either adopt or pretend to adopt by cleverly acting the royal part. The
first step is to be careful of the public funds, [1314b] [1] not squandering presents such as the multitudes
resent, when tyrants take money from the people themselves while they toil and labor in penury and
lavish it on mistresses and foreigners and craftsmen, and also rendering account of receipts and
expenditure, as some tyrants have done already (for this careful management would make a ruler seem
a steward of the state and not a tyrant, and he need not be afraid of ever being at a loss for funds while
he is master of the state; on the contrary, for those tyrants who go abroad on foreign campaigns this is
actually more expedient than to leave their money there collected into one sum, for there is less fear of
those guarding it making an attempt on power; since for tyrants campaigning abroad the keepers of the
treasury are more to be feared than the citizens, for the citizens go abroad with him but the others stay
at home). Secondly he must be seen to collect his taxes and benevolences for purposes of administration
and to meet his occasional requirements for military emergencies, and generally must pose as guardian
and steward as it were of a public fund and not a private estate. And his bearing must not be harsh but
dignified, and also such as to inspire not fear but rather respect [20] in those who encounter him, though
this is not easy to achieve if he is a contemptible personality; so that even if he neglects the other virtues
he is bound to cultivate military valor, and to make himself a reputation as a soldier. And further more
not only must he himself be known not to outrage any of his subjects, either boy or girl, but so also must
everybody about him, and also their wives must similarly show respect towards the other women, since
even the insolences of women have caused the fall of many tyrannies. And in regard to bodily
enjoyments he must do the opposite of what some tyrants do now (for they not only begin their
debaucheries at daybreak and carry them on for many days at a time, but also wish to be seen doing so
by the public, in order that people may admire them as fortunate and happy), but best of all he must be
moderate in such matters, or if not, he must at all events avoid displaying his indulgences to his fellows
(for not the sober man but the drunkard is easy to attack and to despise, not the wakeful man but the
sleeper). And he must do the opposite of almost all the things mentioned some time back, for he must
lay out and adorn the city as if he were a trustee and not a tyrant. And further he must be seen always to
be exceptionally zealous as regards religious observances (for people are less afraid of suffering any
illegal treatment from men of this sort, [1315a] [1] if they think that their ruler has religious scruples and
pays regard to the gods, and also they plot against him less, thinking that he has even the gods as allies),
though he should not display a foolish religiosity. And he must pay such honor to those who display
merit in any matter that they may think that they could never be more honored by the citizens if they
were in dependent; and honors of this kind he should bestow in person, but inflict his punishments by
the agency of other magistrates and law-courts. And it is a protection common to every sort of monarchy
to make no one man great, but if necessary to exalt several (for they will keep watch on one another),
and if after all the ruler has to elevate an individual, at all events not take a man of bold spirit (for such a
character is most enterprising in all undertakings); and if he thinks fit to remove somebody from his
power, to do this by gradual stages and not take away the whole of his authority at once. And again he
should carefully avoid all forms of outrage, and two beyond all, violent bodily punishments and outrage
of the young. And this caution must especially be exercised in relation to the ambitious, for while to be
slighted in regard to property annoys the lovers of wealth, slights that involve dishonor are what men of
honorable ambition and high character resent. [20] Hence the tyrant should either not consort with men
of this kind, or appear to inflict his punishments paternally and not because of contempt, and to indulge
in the society of the young for reasons of passion, not because he has the power, and in general he
should buy off what are thought to be dishonors by greater honors. And among those who make
attempts upon the life of a ruler the most formidable and those against whom the greatest precaution is
needed are those that are ready to sacrifice their lives if they can destroy him. Hence the greatest care
must be taken to guard against those who think that insolent outrage is being done either to themselves
or to those who happen to be under their care; for men attacking under the influence of anger are
reckless of themselves, as Heraclitus137 also observed when he said that anger was hard to combat
because it would buy revenge with a life. And since states consist of two parts, the poor people and the
rich, the most important thing is for both to think that they owe their safety to the government and for it
to prevent either from being wronged by the other, but whichever class is the stronger, this must be
made to be entirely on the side of the government, as, if this support for the tyrant's interests is secured,
there is no need for him to institute a liberation of slaves or a disarming of the citizens, for one of the
two parts of the state added to his power will be enough to make him and them stronger than their
attackers. But to discuss each of such matters separately is superfluous; for the thing to aim at is clear,
[1315b] [1] that it is necessary to appear to the subjects to be not a tyrannical ruler but a steward and a
royal governor, and not an appropriator of wealth but a trustee, and to pursue the moderate things of
life and not its extravagances, and also to make the notables one's comrades and the many one's
followers. For the result of these methods must be that not only the tyrant's rule will be more honorable
and more enviable because he will rule nobler subjects and not men that have been humiliated, and will
not be continually hated and feared, but also that his rule will endure longer, and moreover that he
himself in his personal character will be nobly disposed towards virtue, or at all events half-virtuous, and
not base but only half-base. Nevertheless oligarchy and tyranny138 are less lasting than any of the
constitutional governments. For the longest-lived was the tyranny at Sicyon, that of the sons139 of
Orthagoras and of Orthagoras himself, and this lasted a hundred years.140 The cause of this was that
they treated their subjects moderately and in many matters were subservient to the laws, and
Cleisthenes because he was a warlike man was not easily despised, and in most things they kept the lead
of the people by looking after their interests. At all events it is said that Cleisthenes placed a wreath on
the judge who awarded the victory away from him, and some say that the statue [20] of a seated figure
in the market-place is a statue of the man who gave this judgement. And they say that Pisistratus141
also once submitted to a summons for trial before the Areopagus. And the second longest is the tyranny
at Corinth, that of the Cypselids,142 for even this lasted seventy-three and a half years, as Cypselus was
tyrant for thirty years, Periander for forty-four,143 and Psammetichus son of Gordias for three years. And
the reasons for the permanence of this tyranny also are the same: Cypselus was a leader of the people
and continuously throughout his period of office dispensed with a bodyguard; and although Periander
became tyrannical, yet he was warlike. The third longest tyranny is that of the Pisistratidae at Athens, but
it was not continuous; for while Pisistratus144 was tyrant he twice fled into exile, so that in a period of
thirty-three years he was tyrant for seventeen years out of the total, and his sons for eighteen years, so
that the whole duration of their rule was thirty-five years. Among the remaining tyrannies is the one
connected with Hiero and Gelo145 at Syracuse, but even this did not last many years, but only eighteen
in all, for Gelo after being tyrant for seven years ended his life in the eighth, and Hiero ruled ten years,
but Thrasybulus was expelled after ten months. And the usual tyrannies have all of them been of quite
short duration. The causes therefore of the destruction of constitutional governments and of
monarchies and those again of their preservation have almost all of them been discussed. [1316a] [1]
The subject of revolutions is discussed by Socrates in the Republic,146 but is not discussed well. For his
account of revolution in the constitution that is the best one and the first does not apply to it
particularly. He says that the cause is that nothing is permanent but everything changes in a certain
cycle, and that change has its origin in those numbers whose basic ratio 4 : 3 linked with the number 5
gives two harmonies,meaning whenever the number of this figure becomes cubed,in the belief that
nature sometimes engenders men that are evil, and too strong for education to influencespeaking
perhaps not ill as far as this particular dictum goes (for it is possible that there are some persons
incapable of being educated and becoming men of noble character), but why should this process of
revolution belong to the constitution which Socrates speaks of as the best, more than to all the other
forms of constitution, and to all men that come into existence? and why merely by the operation of time,
which he says is the cause of change in all things, do even things that did not begin to exist
simultaneously change simultaneously? for instance, if a thing came into existence the day before the
completion of the cycle, why does it yet change simultaneously with everything else? And in addition to
these points, what is the reason why the republic changes from the constitution mentioned into the
Spartan form147? For all constitutions more often change into the opposite form than into the [20] one
near them. And the same remark applies to the other revolutions as well. For from the Spartan
constitution the state changes, he says, to oligarchy, and from this to democracy, and from democracy to
tyranny. Yet revolutions also occur the other way about, for example from democracy to oligarchy, and
more often so than from democracy to monarchy. Again as to tyranny he does not say whether it will
undergo revolution or not, nor, if it will, what will be the cause of it, and into what sort of constitution it
will change; and the reason for this is that he would not have found it easy to say, for it is irregular; since
according to him tyranny ought to change into the first and best constitution, for so the process would
be continuous and a circle, but as a matter of fact tyranny also changes into tyranny, as the constitution
of Sicyon148 passed from the tyranny of Myron to that of Cleisthenes, and into oligarchy, as did that of
Antileon149 at Chalcis, and into democracy, as that of the family of Gelo150 at Syracuse, and into
aristocracy, as that of Charilaus151 at Sparta [and as at Carthage].152 And constitutions change from
oligarchy to tyranny, as did almost the greatest number of the ancient oligarchies in Sicily, at Leontini to
the tyranny of Panaetius,153 at Gelo to that of Cleander, at Rhegium to that of Anaxilaus,154 and in
many other cities similarly. And it is also a strange idea that revolutions into oligarchy take place because
the occupants of the offices are lovers of money and engaged in money-making, [1316b] [1] but not
because owners of much more than the average amount of property think it unjust for those who do not
own any property to have an equal share in the state with those who do; and in many oligarchies those
in office are not allowed to engage in business, but there are laws preventing it, whereas in Carthage,
which has a democratic government,155 the magistrates go in for business, and they have not yet had a
revolution. And it is also a strange remark156 that the oligarchical state is two states, one of rich men
and one of poor men. For what has happened to this state rather than to the Spartan or any other sort
of state where all do not own an equal amount of wealth or where all are not equally good men? and
when nobody has become poorer than he was before, none the less revolution takes place from
oligarchy to democracy if the men of no property become more numerous, and from democracy to
oligarchy if the wealthy class is stronger than the multitude and the latter neglect politics but the former
give their mind to them. And although there are many causes through which revolutions in oligarchies
occur, he mentions only onethat of men becoming poor through riotous living, by paying away their
money in interest on loansas if at the start all men or most men were rich. But this is not true, but
although when some of the leaders have lost their properties they stir up innovations, when men of the
other classes are ruined nothing strange happens; [20] and even when such a revolution does occur it is
no more likely to end in a democracy than in another form of constitution. And furthermore men also
form factions and cause revolutions in the constitution if they are not allowed a share of honors, and if
they are unjustly or insolently treated, even if they have not run through all their property . . .157
because of being allowed to do whatever they like; the cause of which he states to be excessive liberty.
And although there are several forms of oligarchy and of democracy, Socrates speaks of the revolutions
that occur in them as though there were only one form of each. 1We have already discussed2 how
many and what are the varieties of the deliberative body or sovereign power in the state, and of the
system of magistracies and of law-courts, and which variety is adapted to which form of constitution,
and also3 the destruction of constitutions and their preservation, from what sort of people they
originate and what are their causes. But as a matter of fact since there have come into existence several
kinds of democracy and similarly of the other forms of constitution, it will be well at the same time to
consider4 any point that remains about these varieties, and also determine the mode of organization
appropriate and advantageous for each. And further we must also investigate5 the combinations of all
the modes of organizing the actual departments of state that have been mentioned,6 [1317a] [1] for
these modes when coupled together make the constitutions overlap, so as to produce oligarchical
aristocracies and republics inclining towards democracy. I refer to the combinations which ought to be
investigated but have not at present been studied, for example if the deliberative body and the system of
electing magistrates are organized oligarchically but the regulations as to the law-courts aristocratically,
or these and the structure of the deliberative body oligarchically and the election of magistracy
aristocratically, or if in some other manner not all the parts of the constitution are appropriately
combined. Now it has been stated before7 what kind of democracy is suited to what kind of state, and
similarly which of the kinds of oligarchy is suited to what kind of populace, and also which of the
remaining constitutions is advantageous for which people; but nevertheless since it must not only be
made clear which variety of these constitutions is best for states, but also how both these best varieties
and the other forms must be established, let us briefly pursue the subject. And first let us speak about
democracy; for at the same time the facts will also become clear about the opposite form of
constitution, that is, the constitution which some people call oligarchy.8 And for this inquiry we must
take into view all the features that are popular and that are thought [20] to go with democracies; for it
comes about from combinations of these that the kinds of democracy are formed, and that there are
different democracies and more than one sort. In fact there are two causes for there being several kinds
of democracy, first the one stated before, the fact that the populations are different (for we find one
multitude engaged in agriculture and another consisting of handicraftsmen and day-laborers, and when
the first of these is added to the second and again the third to both of them it not only makes a
difference in that the quality of the democracy becomes better or worse but also by its becoming
different in kind); and the second cause is the one about which we now speak. For the institutions that
go with democracies and seem to be appropriate to this form of constitution make the democracies
different by their combinations; for one form of democracy will be accompanied by fewer, another by
more, and another by all of them. And it is serviceable to ascertain each of them both for the purpose of
instituting whichever of these kinds of democracy one happens to wish and for the purpose of amending
existing ones. For people setting up constitutions seek to collect together all the features appropriate to
their fundamental principle, but in so doing they make a mistake, as has been said before in the passage
dealing with the causes of the destruction and the preservation of constitutions. And now let us state
the postulates, the ethical characters and the aims of the various forms of democracy. Now a
fundamental principle of the democratic form of constitution is libertythat is what is usually asserted,
implying that only under this constitution do men participate in liberty, [1317b] [1] for they assert this as
the aim of every democracy. But one factor of liberty is to govern and be governed in turn; for the
popular principle of justice is to have equality according to number, not worth, and if this is the principle
of justice prevailing, the multitude must of necessity be sovereign and the decision of the majority must
be final and must constitute justice, for they say that each of the citizens ought to have an equal share;
so that it results that in democracies the poor are more powerful than the rich, because there are more
of them and whatever is decided by the majority is sovereign. This then is one mark of liberty which all
democrats set down as a principle of the constitution. And one is for a man to live as he likes; for they
say that this is the function of liberty, inasmuch as to live not as one likes is the life of a man that is a
slave. This is the second principle of democracy, and from it has come the claim not to be governed,
preferably not by anybody, or failing that, to govern and be governed in turns; and this is the way in
which the second principle contributes to equalitarian liberty.9 And these principles having been laid
down and this being the nature of democratic government, the following institutions are democratic in
character: election of officials by all from all; government of each by all, [20] and of all by each in turn;
election by lot either to all magistracies or to all that do not need experience and skill; no property-
qualification for office, or only a very low one; no office to be held twice, or more than a few times, by
the same person, or few offices except the military ones; short tenure either of all offices or of as many
as possible; judicial functions to be exercised by all citizens, that is by persons selected from all, and on
all matters, or on most and the greatest and most important, for instance the audit of official accounts,
constitutional questions, private contracts; the assembly to be sovereign over all matters, but no official
over any or only over extremely few; or else a council to be sovereign over the most important matters
(and a council is the most democratic of magistracies in states where there is not a plentiful supply of
pay for everybodyfor where there is, they deprive even this office of its power, since the people draws
all the trials to itself when it has plenty of pay, as has been said before in the treatise preceding this
one10); also payment for public duties, preferably in all branches, assembly, law-courts, magistracies, or
if not, for the magistracies, the law-courts, council and sovereign assemblies, or for those magistracies
which are bound11 to have common mess tables. Also inasmuch as oligarchy is defined by birth, wealth
and education, the popular qualifications are thought to be the opposite of these, low birth, poverty,
vulgarity. And in respect of the magistracies it is democratic to have none tenable for life, [1318a] [1] and
if any life-office has been left after an ancient revolution, at all events to deprive it of its power and to
substitute election by lot for election by vote. These12 then are the features common to democracies.
But what is thought to be the extreme form of democracy and of popular government comes about as a
result of the principle of justice that is admitted to be democratic, and this is for all to have equality
according to number. For it is equality for the poor to have no larger share of power than the rich, and
not for the poor alone to be supreme but for all to govern equally; for in this way they would feel that
the constitution possessed both equality and liberty. But the question follows, how will they have
equality? are the property-assessments of five hundred citizens to be divided among a thousand and the
thousand to have equal power to the five hundred13? or is equality on this principle14 not to be
arranged in this manner, but the division into classes to be on this system, but then an equal number to
be taken from the five hundred and from the thousand and these to control the elections and the law-
courts? Is this then the justest form of constitution in accordance with popular justice, or is it rather one
that goes by counting heads?15 For democrats say that justice is whatever seems good to the larger
number, [20] but advocates of oligarchy think that it is whatever seems good to the owners of the larger
amount of property, for they say that the decision ought to go by amount of property. But both views
involve inequality and injustice; for if the will of the few is to prevail, this means a tyranny, since if one
man owns more than the other rich men,16 according to the oligarchic principle of justice it is just for
him to rule alone; whereas if the will of the numerical majority is to prevail, they will do injustice by
confiscating the property of the rich minority, as has been said before.17 What form of equality
therefore would be one on which both parties will agree must be considered in the light of the principles
of justice as defined by both sets. For they say that whatever seems good to the majority of the citizens
ought to be sovereign. Let us then accept this principle, yet not wholly without qualification, but
inasmuch as fortune has brought into existence two component parts of the state, rich and poor, let any
resolution passed by both classes, or by a majority of each, be sovereign, but if the two classes carry
opposite resolutions, let the decision of the majority, in the sense of the group whose total property
assessment is the larger, prevail: for instance, if there are ten rich citizens and twenty poor ones, and
opposite votes have been cast by six of the rich on one side and by fifteen of the less wealthy on the
other, four of the rich have sided with the poor and five of the poor with the rich; then the side that has
the larger total property when the assessments of both classes on either side are added together carries
the voting.18 But if the totals fall out exactly equal, this is to be deemed an impasse common to both
sides, as it is at present if the assembly or law-court is exactly divided; [1318b] [1] either a decision must
be made by casting lots or some other such device must be adopted. But on questions of equality and
justice, even though it is very difficult to discover the truth about them, nevertheless it is easier to hit
upon it than to persuade people that have the power to get an advantage to agree to it; equality and
justice are always sought by the weaker party, but those that have the upper hand pay no attention to
them. There being four kinds of democracy, the best is the one that stands first in structure, as was said
in the discourses preceding these19; it is also the oldest of them all, but by first I mean first as it were in
a classification of the kinds of common people. The best common people are the agricultural population,
so that it is possible to introduce democracy as well as other forms of constitution where the multitude
lives by agriculture or by pasturing cattle. For owing to their not having much property they are busy, so
that they cannot often meet in the assembly, while owing to their having20 the necessaries of life they
pass their time attending to their farm work and do not covet their neighbors' goods, but find more
pleasure in working than in taking part in politics and holding office, where the profits to be made from
the offices are not large; for the mass of mankind are more covetous of gain than of honor. And this is
indicated by the fact that men endured the tyrannies of former times, and endure oligarchies, if a ruler
does not prevent them from working or [20] rob them; for then some of them soon get rich and the
others free from want. And also, if they have any ambition, to have control over electing magistrates and
calling them to account makes up for the lack of office, since in some democracies even if the people
have no part in electing the magistrates but these are elected by a special committee selected in turn
out of the whole number, as at Mantinea, yet if they have the power of deliberating on policy, the
multitude are satisfied. (And this too must be counted as one form of democracy, on the lines on which
it once existed at Mantinea.) Indeed it is for this reason that it is advantageous for the form of
democracy spoken of before, and is a customary institution in it, for all the citizens to elect the
magistrates and call them to account, and to try law-suits, but for the holders of the greatest
magistracies to be elected and to have property-qualifications, the higher offices being elected from the
higher property-grades, or else for no office to be elected on a property-qualification, but for officials to
be chosen on the ground of capacity. And a state governed in this way is bound to be governed well (for
the offices will always be administered by the best men with the consent of the people and without their
being jealous of the upper classes), and this arrangement is certain to be satisfactory for the upper
classes and notables, for they will not be under the government of others inferior to themselves, and
they will govern justly because a different class will be in control of the auditssince it is expedient to be
in a state of suspense and not to be able to do everything exactly as seems good to one, for liberty to do
whatever one likes cannot guard against the evil that is in every man's character. [1319a] [1] Hence there
necessarily results the condition of affairs that is the most advantageous in the government of states
for the upper classes to govern without doing wrong, the common people not being deprived of any
rights. It is manifest therefore that this is the best of the forms of democracy, and why this is so
namely, because in it the common people are of a certain kind. For the purpose of making the people an
agricultural community, not only were some of the laws that were enacted in many states in early times
entirely serviceable, prohibiting the ownership of more than a certain amount of land under any
conditions or else of more than a certain amount lying between a certain place and the citadel or city
(and in early times at all events in many states there was even legislation prohibiting the sale of the
original allotments; and there is a law said to be due to Oxylus21 with some similar provision, forbidding
loans secured on a certain portion of a man's existing estate), but at the present day it would also be
well to introduce reform by means of the law of the Aphytaeans, as it is serviceable for the purpose of
which we are speaking; the citizens of Aphytis22 although numerous and possessing a small territory
nevertheless are all engaged in agriculture, for they are assessed not on the whole of their estates, but
on divisions of them so small that even the poor can exceed the required minimum in their
assessments.23 After the agricultural community [20] the best kind of democracy is where the people
are herdsmen and get their living from cattle; for this life has many points of resemblance to agriculture,
and as regards military duties pastoral people are in a very well trained condition and serviceable in body
and capable of living in the open. But almost all the other classes of populace, of which the remaining
kinds of democracy are composed, are very inferior to these, for their mode of life is mean, and there is
no element of virtue in any of the occupations in which the multitude of artisans and market-people and
the wage-earning class take part, and also owing to their loitering about the market-place and the city
almost all people of this class find it easy to attend the assembly; whereas the farmers owing to their
being scattered over the country do not attend, and have not an equal desire for this opportunity of
meeting. And where it also happens that the lie of the land is such that the country is widely separated
from the city, it is easy to establish a good democracy and also a good constitutional government, for the
multitude is forced to live at a distance on the farms; and so, even if there is a crowd that frequents the
market-place, it is best in democracies not to hold assemblies without the multitude scattered over the
country.24 It has then been stated how the best and first kind of democracy is to be organized, and it is
clear how we ought to organize the other kinds also. For they must diverge in a corresponding order, and
at each stage we must admit the next inferior class. [1319b] [1] The last kind of democracy, because all
the population share in the government, it is not within the power of every state to endure, and it is not
easy for it to persist if it is not well constituted in its laws and customs (but the things that result in
destroying both this state and the other forms of constitution have been nearly all of them spoken of
before25). With a view to setting up this kind of democracy and making the people powerful their
leaders usually acquire as many supporters as possible and admit to citizenship not only the legitimate
children of citizens but also the base-born and those of citizen-birth on one side, I mean those whose
father or mother is a citizen; for all this element is specially congenial to a to democracy of this sort.
Popular leaders therefore regularly introduce such institutions; they ought however only to go on adding
citizens up to the point where the multitude outnumbers the notables and the middle class and not to
go beyond that point; for if they exceed it they make the government more disorderly, and also provoke
the notables further in the direction of being reluctant to endure the democracy, which actually took
place and caused the revolution at Cyrene26; for a small base element is overlooked, but when it grows
numerous it is more in evidence. [20] A democracy of this kind will also find useful such institutions as
were employed by Cleisthenes27 at Athens when he wished to increase the power of the democracy,
and by the party setting up the democracy at Cyrene; different tribes and brotherhoods must be created
outnumbering the old ones, and the celebrations of private religious rites must be grouped together into
a small number of public celebrations, and every device must be employed to make all the people as
much as possible intermingled with one another, and to break up the previously existing groups of
associates. Moreover the characteristics of a tyranny also are all thought to be democratic, I mean for
instance licence among slaves, which may really be advantageous for the popular party up to a point,
and among women and children, and indulgence to live as one likes; a constitution of this sort will have a
large number of supporters, as disorderly living is pleasanter to the mass of mankind than sober living.
But it is not the greatest or only task of the legislator or of those who desire to construct a constitution
of this kind merely to set it up, but rather to ensure its preservation; for it is not difficult for any form of
constitution to last for one or two or three days. We must therefore employ the results obtained in the
inquiries that we have made already28 into the causes of the preservation and the destruction of
constitutions, and attempt in the light of those results to establish the safety of the state, carefully
avoiding the things that cause destruction, and enacting such laws both written and unwritten [1320a]
[1] as shall best compass the results preservative of constitutions, and not think that a measure is
democratic or oligarchic which will cause the state to be democratically or oligarchically governed in the
greatest degree, but which will cause it to be so governed for the longest time. But the demagogues of
today to court the favor of the peoples often use the law-courts to bring about confiscations of property.
Hence those who are caring for the safety of the constitution must counteract this by enacting that
nothing belonging to persons condemned at law shall be confiscated and liable to be carried to the
public treasury, but that their property shall be consecrated to the service of religion; for male-factors
will be no less on their guard, as they will be punished just the same, while the mob will less often vote
guilty against men on trial when it is not going to get anything out of it. Also they must always make the
public trials that occur as few as possible, checking those who bring indictments at random by big
penalties; for they do not usually indict men of the people but notables, whereas even with this form of
constitution it is desirable for all the citizens if possible to be friendly to the state, or failing that, at all
events not to think of their rulers as enemies. And inasmuch as the ultimate forms of democracy tend to
have large populations and it is difficult for their citizens to sit in the assembly without pay, and this in a
state where there do not happen to be revenues is inimical to the notables [20] (for pay has to be
obtained from a property-tax and confiscation, and from corruption of the law-courts, which has caused
the overthrow of many democracies before now),where therefore there happen to be no revenues,
few meetings of the assembly must be held, and the law-courts must consist of many members but only
sit a few days (for this not only contributes to the rich not being in fear of the cost of the system even if
the well-off do not take the pay and only the poor do, but also leads to far greater efficiency in the trial
of law-suits, for the well-to-do, though not wishing to be away from their private affairs for many days,
are willing to leave them for a short time), while where there are revenues men must not do what the
popular leaders do now (for they use the surplus for doles, and people no sooner get them than they
want the same doles again, because this way of helping the poor is the legendary jar with a hole in it29),
but the truly democratic statesman must study how the multitude may be saved from extreme poverty;
for this is what causes democracy to be corrupt. Measures must therefore be contrived that may bring
about lasting prosperity. And since this is advantageous also for the well-to-do, the proper course is to
collect all the proceeds of the revenues into a fund and distribute this in lump sums to the needy, best of
all, if one can, in sums large enough for acquiring a small estate, or, failing this, to serve as capital for
trade or husbandry, [1320b] [1] and if this is not possible for all, at all events to distribute the money by
tribes or some other division of the population in turn, while in the meantime the well-to-do must
contribute pay for attendance at the necessary assemblies, being themselves excused from useless
public services. By following some such policy as this the Carthaginians have won the friendship of the
common people; for they constantly send out some of the people to the surrounding territories and so
make them well-off. And if the notables are men of good feeling and sense they may also divide the
needy among them in groups and supply them with capital to start them in businesses. It is also a good
plan to imitate the policy30 of the Tarentines. They get the goodwill of the multitude by making property
communal for the purpose of use by the needy31; also they have divided the whole number of their
magistracies into two classes, one elected by vote and the other filled by lot,the latter to ensure that
the people may have a share in them, and the former to improve the conduct of public affairs. And it is
also possible to effect this by dividing the holders of the same magistracy into two groups, one
appointed by lot and the other by vote. We have then said how democracies should be organized. It is
also fairly clear from these considerations how oligarchies ought to be organized. We must infer them
from their opposites, reasoning out each form of oligarchy [20] with reference to the form of democracy
opposite to it, starting with the most well-blended and first form of oligarchy32and this is the one near
to what is called a constitutional government, and for it the property-qualifications must be divided into
one group of smaller properties and another of larger ones, smaller properties qualifying their owners
for the indispensable offices and larger ones for the more important; and a person owning the qualifying
property must be allowed to take a share in the government,introducing by the assessment a large
enough number of the common people to secure that with them the governing class will have a majority
over those excluded; and persons to share in the government must constantly be brought in from the
better class of the common people. And the next form of oligarchy also must be constructed in a similar
way with a slight tightening up of the qualification. But the form of oligarchy that stands opposite to the
last form of democracy, the most autocratic and tyrannical of the oligarchies, in as far as it is the worst
requires a correspondingly great amount of safe-guarding. For just as human bodies in a good state of
health and ships well equipped with their crews for a voyage admit of more mistakes without being
destroyed thereby, but bodies of a morbid habit and vessels strained in their timbers and manned with
bad crews cannot endure even the smallest mistakes, so also the worst constitutions need the most safe-
guarding. [1321a] [1] Democracies therefore generally speaking are kept safe by the largeness of the
citizen-body, for this is the antithesis of justice according to desert; but oligarchy on the contrary must
manifestly obtain its security by means of good organization. And since the mass of the population falls
principally into four divisions, the farming class, artisans, retail traders and hired laborers, and military
forces are of four classes, cavalry, heavy infantry, light infantry and marines, in places where the country
happens to be suitable for horsemanship, there natural conditions favor the establishment of an
oligarchy that will be powerful (for the security of the inhabitants depends on the strength of this
element, and keeping studs of horses is the pursuit of those who own extensive estates); and where the
ground is suitable for heavy infantry, conditions favor the next form of oligarchy (for heavy infantry is a
service for the well-to-do rather than the poor); but light infantry and naval forces are an entirely
democratic element. As things are therefore, where there is a large multitude of this class, when party
strife occurs the oligarchs often get the worst of the struggle; and a remedy for this must be adopted
from military commanders, who combine with their cavalry and heavy infantry forces a contingent of
light infantry. And this is the way33 in which the common people get the better over the well-to-do in
outbreaks of party strife: [20] being unencumbered they fight easily against cavalry and heavy infantry.
Therefore to establish this force out of this class is to establish it against itself, but the right plan is for the
men of military age to be separated into a division of older and one of younger men, and to have their
own sons while still young trained in the exercises of light and unarmed troops, and for youths selected
from among the boys to be themselves trained in active operations. And the bestowal of a share in the
government upon the multitude should either go on the lines stated before,34 and be made to those
who acquire the property-qualification, or as at Thebes, to people after they have abstained for a time
from mechanic industries, or as at Marseilles, by making a selection among members of the governing
classes and those outside it of persons who deserve35 inclusion. And furthermore the most supreme
offices also, which must be retained by those within the constitution, must have expensive duties
attached to them, in order that the common people may be willing to be excluded from them, and may
feel no resentment against the ruling class, because it pays a high price for office. And it fits in with this
that they should offer splendid sacrifices and build up some public monument on entering upon office,
so that the common people sharing in the festivities and seeing the city decorated both with votive
offerings and with building may be glad to see the constitution enduring; and an additional result will be
that the notables will have memorials of their outlay. But at present the members of oligarchies do not
adopt this course but the opposite, for they seek the gains of office just as much as the honor; hence
these oligarchies are well described as miniature democracies.36 [1321b] [1] Let this then be a
description of the proper way to organize the various forms of democracy and of oligarchy. As a
consequence of what has been said there follow satisfactory conclusions to the questions concerning
magistracieshow many and what they should be and to whom they should belong, as has also been
said before.37 For without the indispensable38 magistracies a state cannot exist, while without those
that contribute to good order and seemliness it cannot be well governed. And furthermore the
magistracies are bound to be fewer in the small states and more numerous in the large ones, as in fact
has been said before39; it must therefore be kept in view what kinds of magistracies it is desirable to
combine and what kinds to keep separate. First among the indispensable services is the superintendence
of the market, over which there must be an official to superintend contracts and good order; since it is a
necessity for almost all states that people shall sell some things and buy others according to one
another's necessary requirements, and this is the readiest means of securing self-sufficiency, which
seems to be the reason for men's having united into a single state. Another superintendency connected
very closely with this one is the curatorship of public and private properties in the city, [20] to secure
good order and the preservation and rectification of falling buildings and roads, and of the bounds
between different persons' estates, so that disputes may not arise about them, and all the other duties
of superintendence similar to these. An office of this nature is in most states entitled that of City-
controller, but it has several departments, each of which is filled by separate officials in the states with
larger populations, for instance Curators of Walls, Superintendents of Wells, Harbors-guardians. And
another office also is indispensable and closely akin to these, for it controls the same matters but deals
with the country and there regions outside the city; and these magistrates are called in some places
Land-controllers and in others Custodians of Forests. These then are three departments of control over
these matters, while another office is that to which the revenues of the public funds are paid in, the
officials who guard them and by whom they are divided out to the several administrative departments;
these magistrates are called Receivers and Stewards. Another magistracy is the one that has to receive a
written return of private contracts and of the verdicts of the law-courts; and with these same officials
the registration of legal proceedings and their institution have also to take place. In some states this
office also is divided into several, but there are places where one magistracy controls all these matters;
and these officials are called Sacred Recorders, Superintendents, Recorders, and other names akin to
these. And after these is the office connected with it but perhaps the most indispensable and most
difficult of all, the one concerned with the execution of judgement upon persons cast in suits and those
posted as defaulters according to the lists, [1322a] [1] and with the custody of prisoners. This is an
irksome office because it involves great unpopularity, so that where it is not possible to make a great
deal of profit out of it men will not undertake it, or when they have undertaken it are reluctant to carry
out its functions according to the laws; but it is necessary, because there is no use in trials being held
about men's rights when the verdicts are not put into execution, so that if when no legal trial of disputes
takes place social intercourse is impossible, so also is it when judgements are not executed. Hence it is
better for this magistracy not to be a single office but to consist of several persons drawn from different
courts, and it is desirable similarly to try to divide up the functions connected with the posting up of
people registered as public debtors, and further also in some cases for the sentences to be executed by
magistrates, especially by the newly elected ones preferably in suits tried by the outgoing ones, and in
those tried by men actually in office for the magistrate executing the sentence to be different from the
one that passed it, for instance the City-controllers to execute the judgements passed on from the
Market-controllers and other magistrates those passed on by the City-controllers. For the less odium
involved for those who execute the judgements, the more adequately the judgements will be carried
out; so for the same magistrates to have imposed the sentence and to execute it involves a twofold
odium, and for the same ones to execute it in all cases makes them the enemies of everybody. And in
many places also the office of keeping custody of prisoners, for example at Athens the office of the
magistrates known as the Eleven40, [20] is separate from the magistracy that executes sentences. It is
better therefore to keep this also separate, and to attempt the same device with regard to this as well.
For though it is no less necessary than the office of which I spoke, yet in practice respectable people
avoid it most of all offices, while it is not safe to put it into the hands of the base, for they themselves
need others to guard them instead of being able to keep guard over others. Hence there must not be
one magistracy specially assigned to the custody of prisoners nor must the same magistracy perform this
duty continuously, but it should be performed by the young, in places where there is a regiment of
cadets41 or guards, and by the magistrates, in successive sections. These magistracies therefore must
be counted first as supremely necessary, and next to them must be put those that are not less necessary
but are ranked on a higher grade of dignity, because they require much experience and trustworthiness;
in this class would come the magistracies concerned with guarding the city and those assigned to
military requirements. And both in peace and in war it is equally necessary for there to be magistrates to
superintend the guarding of gates and walls and the inspection and drill of the citizen troops. In some
places therefore there are more magistracies assigned to all these duties, and in others fewerfor
instance in the small states there is one to deal with all of them. And the officers of this sort are entitled
Generals or War-lords. [1322b] [1] And moreover if there are also cavalry or light infantry or archers or a
navy, sometimes a magistracy is appointed to have charge of each of these arms also, and they carry the
titles of Admiral, Cavalry-commander and Taxiarch, and also the divisional commissions subordinate to
these of Captains of Triremes, Company-commanders and Captains of Tribes, and all the subdivisions of
these commands. But the whole of this sort of officers constituted a single class, that of military
command. This then is how the matter stands in regard to this office; but inasmuch as some of the
magistracies, if not all, handle large sums of public money, there must be another office to receive an
account and subject it to audit, which must itself handle no other business; and these officials are called
Auditors by some people, Accountants by others, Examiners by others and Advocates by others. And by
the side of all these offices is the one that is most supreme over all matters, for often the same
magistracy has the execution of business that controls its introduction, or presides over the general
assembly in places where the people are supreme; for the magistracy that convenes the sovereign
assembly is bound to be the sovereign power in the state. It is styled in some places the Preliminary
Council because it considers business in advance, but where there is a democracy42 it is more usually
called a Council. This more or less completes the number of the offices of a political nature; but another
kind of superintendence is that concerned with divine worship; in this class are priests and
superintendents of matters [20] connected with the temples, the preservation of existing buildings and
the restoration of those that are ruinous, and the other duties relating to the gods. In practice this
superintendence in some places forms a single office, for instance in the small cities, but in others it
belongs to a number of officials who are not members of the priesthood, for example Sacrificial Officers
and Temple-guardians and Stewards of Sacred Funds. And connected with this is the office devoted to
the management of all the public festivals which the law does not assign to the priests but the officials in
charge of which derive their honor from the common sacrificial hearth, and these officials are called in
some places Archons, in others Kings and in others Presidents. To sum up therefore, the necessary
offices of superintendence deal with the following matters : institutions of religion, military institutions,
revenue and expenditure, control of the market, citadel, harbors and country, also the arrangements of
the law-courts, registration of contracts, collection of fines, custody of prisoners, supervision of accounts
and inspections, and the auditing of officials, and lastly the offices connected with the body that
deliberates about public affairs. On the other hand, peculiar to the states that have more leisure and
prosperity, and also pay attention to public decorum, are the offices of Superintendent of Women,
Guardian of the Laws, Superintendent of Children, Controller of Physical Training, [1323a] [1] and in
addition to these the superintendence of athletic and Dionysiac contests and of any similar displays that
happen to be held. Some of these offices are obviously not of a popular character, for instance that of
Superintendent of Women and of Children; for the poor having no slaves are forced to employ their
women and children as servants. There are three offices which in some states supervise the election of
the chief magistratesGuardians of the Laws, Preliminary Councillors and Council; of these the
Guardians of the Laws are an aristocratic institution, the Preliminary Councillors oligarchic, and a Council
democratic. We have now therefore spoken in outline about almost all the offices of state. 1The
student who is going to make a suitable investigation of the best form of constitution must necessarily
decide first of all what is the most desirable mode of life. For while this is uncertain it is also bound to be
uncertain what is the best constitution, since it is to be expected that the people that have the best form
of government available under their given conditions will fare the best, exceptional circumstances apart.
Hence we must first [20] agree what life is most desirable for almost all men, and after that whether the
same life is most desirable both for the community and for the individual, or a different one. Believing
therefore in the adequacy of much of what is said even in extraneous discourses2 on the subject of the
best life, let us make use of these pronouncements now. For as regards at all events one classification of
things good, putting them in three groups, external goods, goods of the soul and goods of the body,
assuredly nobody would deny that the ideally happy are bound to possess all three. For nobody would
call a man ideally happy that has not got a particle of courage nor of temperance nor of justice nor of
wisdom, but is afraid of the flies that flutter by him, cannot refrain from any of the most outrageous
actions in order to gratify a desire to eat or to drink, ruins his dearest friends for the sake of a farthing,
and similarly in matters of the intellect also is as senseless and mistaken as any child or lunatic. But
although these are propositions which when uttered everybody would agree to, yet men differ about
amount and degrees of value. They think it is enough to possess however small a quantity of virtue, but
of wealth, riches, power, glory and everything of that kind they seek a larger and larger amount without
limit. We on the other hand shall tell them that it is easy to arrive at conviction on these matters in the
light of the actual facts, when one sees that men do not acquire and preserve the virtues by means of
these external goods, but external goods by means of the virtues, [1323b] [1] and that whether the life
of happiness consists for man in enjoyment or in virtue or in both, it is found in larger measure with
those who are of surpassingly high cultivation in character and intellect but only moderate as regards the
external acquisition of goods, than with those who own more than they can use of the latter but are
deficient in the former. Not but what the truth is also easily seen if we consider the matter in the light of
reason. For external goods have a limit, as has any instrument (and everything useful is useful for
something), so an excessive amount of them must necessarily do harm, or do no good, to its possessor;
whereas with any of the goods of the soul, the more abundant it is, the more useful it must beif even
to goods of the soul not only the term noble but also the term useful can be properly applied. And
broadly, it is clear that we shall declare that the best condition of each particular thing, comparing things
with one another, corresponds in point of superiority to the distance that subsists between the things of
which we declare these conditions themselves to be conditions.3 Hence inasmuch as our soul is a more
valuable thing both absolutely and relatively to ourselves than either our property or our body, the best
conditions of these things must necessarily stand in the same relation to one another as the things
themselves do. Moreover it is for the sake of the soul that these goods are in their nature desirable, and
that all wise men must [20] choose them, not the soul for the sake of those other things. Let us then
take it as agreed between us that to each man there falls just so large a measure of happiness as he
achieves of virtue and wisdom and of virtuous and wise action: in evidence of this we have the case of
God, who is happy and blessed, but is so on account of no external goods, but on account of himself, and
by being of a certain quality in his nature; since it is also for this reason that prosperity is necessarily
different from happinessfor the cause of goods external to the soul is the spontaneous and fortune,4
but nobody is just or temperate as a result of or owing to the action of fortune. And connected is a truth
requiring the same arguments to prove it, that it is also the best state, and the one that does well,5 that
is happy. But to do well is impossible save for those who do good actions, and there is no good action
either of a man or of a state without virtue and wisdom; and courage, justice and wisdom belonging to a
state have the same meaning and form as have those virtues whose possession bestows the titles of just
and wise and temperate on an individual human being. These remarks however must suffice by way of
preface to our discourse: for neither is it possible to abstain from touching on these subjects altogether,
nor is it feasible to follow out all the arguments that are germane to them, for that is the business of
another course of study. For the present let us take it as established that the best life, whether
separately for an individual or collectively for states, [1324a] [1] is the life conjoined with virtue
furnished with sufficient means for taking part in virtuous actions6; while objections to this position we
must pass over in the course of the present inquiry, and reserve them for future consideration, if anyone
be found to disagree with what has been said. On the other hand it remains to say whether the
happiness of a state is to be pronounced the same as that of each individual man, or whether it is
different. Here too the answer is clear: everybody would agree that it is the same; for all those who base
the good life upon wealth in the case of the individual, also assign felicity to the state as a whole if it is
wealthy; and all who value the life of the tyrant highest, would also say that the state which rules the
widest empire is the happiest; and if any body accepts the individual as happy on account of virtue, he
will also say that the state which is the better morally is the happier. But there now arise these two
questions that require consideration: first, which mode of life is the more desirable, the life of active
citizenship and participation in politics, or rather the life of an alien and that of detachment from the
political partnership; next, what constitution and what organization of a state is to be deemed the best,
either on the assumption that to take an active part in the state is desirable for everybody, or that it is
undesirable for some men although desirable for most. But as it is [20] the latter question that is the
business of political study and speculation, and not the question of what is desirable for the individual,
and as it is the investigation of politics that we have now taken up, the former question would be a side
issue, and the latter is the business of political inquiry. Now it is clear that the best constitution is the
system under which anybody whatsoever would be best off and would live in felicity; but the question is
raised even on the part of those who agree that the life accompanied by virtue is the most desirable,
whether the life of citizenship and activity is desirable or rather a life released from all external affairs,
for example some form of contemplative life, which is said by some to be the only life that is
philosophic.7 For it is manifest that these are the two modes of life principally chosen by the men most
ambitious of excelling in virtue, both in past times and at the present dayI mean the life of politics and
the life of philosophy. And it makes no little difference which way the truth lies; for assuredly the wise
are bound to arrange their affairs in the direction of the better goaland this applies to the state
collectively as well as to the individual human being. Some persons think that empire over one's
neighbors, if despotically exercised, involves a definite injustice of the greatest kind, and if
constitutionally, although it carries no injustice, yet is a hindrance to the ruler's own well-being; but
others hold almost the opposite view to thesethey think that the life of action and citizenship is the
only life fit for a man, since with each of the virtues its exercise in actions is just as possible for men
engaged in public affairs and in politics as for those who live a private life. [1324b] [1] Some people then
hold the former view, while others declare that the despotic and tyrannical form of constitution alone
achieves happiness; and in some states it is also the distinctive aim of the constitution and the laws to
enable them to exercise despotic rule over their neighbors. Hence even though with most peoples most
of the legal ordinances have been laid down virtually at random, nevertheless if there are places where
the laws aim at one definite object, that object is in all cases power, as in Sparta and Crete both the
system of education and the mass of the laws are framed in the main with a view to war; and also
among all the non-Hellenic nations that are strong enough to expand at the expense of others, military
strength has been held in honor, for example, among the Scythians, Persians, Thracians and Celts. Indeed
among some peoples there are even certain laws stimulating military valor; for instance at Carthage, we
are told, warriors receive the decoration of armlets of the same number as the campaigns on which they
have served; and at one time there was also a law in Macedonia that a man who had never killed an
enemy must wear his halter instead of a belt. Among Scythian tribes at a certain festival a cup was
carried round from which a man that had not killed an enemy was not allowed to drink. Among the
Iberians, a warlike race, they fix small spits8 [20] in the earth round a man's grave corresponding in
number to the enemies he has killed. So with other races there are many other practices of a similar
kind, some established by law and others by custom. Nevertheless those who wish to examine the
matter closely might perhaps think it exceedingly strange that it should be the business of a statesman to
be able to devise means of holding empire and mastery over the neighboring peoples whether they
desire it or not. How can that be worthy of a statesman or lawgiver which is not even lawful? and
government is not lawful when it is carried on not only justly but also unjustlyand superior strength
may be unjustly exercised. Moreover we do not see this in the other sciences either: it is no part of a
physician's or ship-captain's business to use either persuasion or compulsion upon the patients in the
one case and the crew9 in the other. Yet most peoples seem to think that despotic rule is statesmanship,
and are not ashamed to practise towards others treatment which they declare to be unjust and
detrimental for themselves; for in their own internal affairs they demand just government, yet in their
relations with other peoples they pay no attention to justice. Yet it is strange if there is not a natural
distinction between peoples suited to be despotically ruled and those not suited; so that if this is so, it is
not proper to attempt to exercise despotic government over all people, but only over those suited for it,
just as it is not right to hunt human beings for food or sacrifice, but only the game suitable for this
purpose, that is, such wild creatures as are good to eat. And moreover it is possible even for a single
state in isolation to be happy, [1325a] [1] that is one that is well governed, in as much as it is conceivable
that a state might be carried on somewhere in isolation, enjoying good laws, and in such a state the
system of the constitution will not be framed for the purpose of war or of overpowering its enemiesfor
we are to suppose everything to do with war to be excluded. It is evident therefore that while all military
pursuits are to be deemed honorable, they are not so as being the ultimate end of all things but as
means to that end. And it is the business of the good lawgiver to study how a state, a race of men or any
other community is to partake of the good life and the happiness possible for them. Some however of
the regulations laid down will vary; and in case there exist any neighbor peoples, it is the business of the
legislative art to consider what sort of exercises should be practised in relation to what sort of neighbors
or how the state is to adopt the regulations that are suitable in relation to each. But this question of the
proper end for the best constitutions to aim at may receive its due consideration later.10 We turn to
those who, while agreeing that the life of virtue is the most desirable, differ about the way in which that
life should be pursued. Some disapprove of holding office in the state, thinking that the life of the free
man [20] is different from the life of politics and is the most desirable of any; whereas others think the
political life the best life, for they argue that it is impossible for the man who does nothing to do well,
and doing well and happiness are the same thing.11 To these two parties we must reply that both are
partly right and partly wrong. The former are right in saying that the life of the free man is better than
the life of mastership, for this is truethere is nothing specially dignified in employing a slave, as a slave,
for giving orders about menial duties has in it nothing of nobility; yet to think that all government is
exercising the authority of a master is a mistake, for there is as wide a difference between ruling free
men and ruling slaves as there is between the natural freeman and the natural slave themselves. But
these things have been adequately decided in the first discourses.12 But to praise inaction more highly
than action is an error, for happiness is an activity, and further the actions of the just and temperate
have in them the realization of much that is noble. Yet on the strength of these decisions somebody
might perhaps suppose that the highest good is to be the master of the world, since thus one would
have the power to compass the greatest number and the noblest kind of actions, and therefore it is not
the duty of the man that is capable of ruling to surrender office to his neighbor, but rather to take it from
him, and no account must be taken by father of sons nor by sons of father nor in general by one friend of
another, and no heed must be paid to them in comparison with this; for the best thing is the most to be
desired, and to do well is the best thing. Now this statement is perhaps true [1325b] [1] if it is the case
that the most desirable of existing things will belong to men that use robbery and violence. But perhaps
it cannot belong to them, and this is a false assumption. For a man's acts can no longer be noble if he
does not excel as greatly as a man excels a woman or a father his children or a master his slaves, so that
one who transgresses cannot afterwards achieve anything sufficient to rectify the lapse from virtue that
he had already committed; because for equals the noble and just consists in their taking turns, since this
is equal and alike, but for those that are equal to have an unequal share and those that are alike an
unlike share is contrary to nature, and nothing contrary to nature is noble. Hence in case there is another
person who is our superior in virtue and in practical capacity for the highest functions, him it is noble to
follow and him it is just to obey; though he must possess not only virtue but also capacity that will
render him capable of action. But if these things are well said, and if happiness is to be defined as well-
doing, the active life is the best life both for the whole state collectively and for each man individually.
But the active life is not necessarily active in relation to other men, as some people think, nor are only
those processes of thought active that are pursued for the sake of the objects that result from action,
but far more [20] those speculations and thoughts that have their end in themselves and are pursued for
their own sake; for the end is to do well, and therefore is a certain form of action.13 And even with
actions done in relation to external objects we predicate action in the full sense chiefly of the master-
craftsmen who direct the action by their thoughts. Moreover with cities also, those that occupy an
isolated situation and pursue a policy of isolation are not necessarily inactive; for state activities also can
be sectional, since the sections of the state have many common relations with one another. And this is
also possible similarly in the case of any individual human being; for otherwise God and the whole
universe could hardly be well circumstanced, since they have no external activities by the side of their
own private activities. It is therefore manifest that the same life must be the best both for each human
being individually and for states and mankind collectively. And as we have prepared the way by this
prefatory discussion of the subject, and have previously studied all the other forms of constitution,14 the
starting-point for the remainder of our subject is first to specify the nature of the conditions that are
necessary in the case of the state that is to be constituted in the ideally best manner. For the best
constitution cannot be realized without suitable equipment.15 We must therefore posit as granted in
advance a number of as it were ideal conditions, although none of these must be actually impossible. I
mean for instance in reference to number of citizens and territory. All other craftsmen, for example a
weaver or a shipwright, [1326a] [1] have to be supplied with their material in a condition suitable for
their trade, for the better this material has been prepared, the finer is bound to be the product of their
craft; so also the statesman and the lawgiver ought to be furnished with their proper material in a
suitable condition. Under the head of material equipment for the state there first come the questions as
to a supply of populationwhat precisely ought to be its number and what its natural character? and
similarly in regard to the territory, what is to be its particular size and nature? Most people imagine that
the prosperous state must be a great state; but granted the truth of this, they fail to realize in what
quality the greatness or smallness of a state consists: they judge a great state by the numerical
magnitude of the population, but really the more proper thing to look at is not numbers but efficiency.
For a state like other things has a certain function to perform, so that it is the state most capable of
performing this function that is to be deemed the greatest, just as one would pronounce Hippocrates to
be greater, not as a human being but as a physician, than somebody who surpassed him in bodily size. All
the same, even if it be right to judge the state by the test of its multitude, this ought not to be done with
regard to the multitude of any and every class (for states are doubtless bound to contain a large number
of slaves [20] and resident aliens and foreigners), but the test should be the number of those who are a
part of the statethe special parts of which a state consists. It is superiority in the number of these that
indicates a great state; a state that sends forth to war a large number of the baser sort and a small
number of heavy-armed soldiers cannot possibly be a great statefor a great state is not the same thing
as a state with a large population. But certainly experience also shows that it is difficult and perhaps
impossible for a state with too large a population to have good legal government. At all events we see
that none of the states reputed to be well governed is without some restriction in regard to numbers.
The evidence of theory proves the same point. Law is a form of order, and good law must necessarily
mean good order; but an excessively large number cannot participate in order: to give it order would
surely be a task for divine power, which holds even this universe together.16 Hence that state also must
necessarily be the most beautiful with whose magnitude is combined the above-mentioned limiting
principle; for certainly beauty is usually found in number and magnitude, but there is a due measure of
magnitude for a city-state as there also is for all other thingsanimals, plants, tools; each of these if too
small or excessively large will not possess its own proper efficiency, but in some cases will have entirely
lost its true nature and in others will be in a defective condition: for instance, a ship a span long will not
be a ship at all, nor will a ship a quarter of a mile long, and even when it reaches a certain size, [1326b]
[1] in some cases smallness and in others excessive largeness will make it sail badly. Similarly a state
consisting of too few people will not be self-sufficing (which is an essential quality of a state), and one
consisting of too many, though self-sufficing in the mere necessaries, will be so in the way in which a
nation17 is, and not as a state, since it will not be easy for it to possess constitutional governmentfor
who will command its over-swollen multitude in war? or who will serve as its herald, unless he have the
lungs of a Stentor? It follows that the lowest limit for the existence of a state is when it consists of a
population that reaches the minimum number that is self-sufficient for the purpose of living the good life
after the manner of a political community. It is possible also for one that exceeds this one in number to
be a greater state, but, as we said, this possibility of increase is not without limit, and what the limit of
the state's expansion is can easily be seen from practical considerations. The activities of the state are
those of the rulers and those of the persons ruled, and the work of a ruler is to direct the administration
and to judge law-suits; but in order to decide questions of justice and in order to distribute the offices
according to merit it is necessary for the citizens to know each other's personal characters, since where
this does not happen to be the case the business of electing officials and trying law-suits is bound to go
badly; haphazard decision is unjust in both matters, and this [20] must obviously prevail in an excessively
numerous community. Also in such a community it is easy for foreigners and resident aliens to usurp the
rights of citizenship, for the excessive number of the population makes it not difficult to escape
detection. It is clear therefore that the best limiting principle for a state is the largest expansion of the
population, with a view to self-sufficiency that can well be taken in at one view. Such may be our
conclusion on the question of the size of the state. Very much the same holds good about its territory.
As to the question what particular kind of land it ought to have, it is clear that everybody would
command that which is most self-sufficing (and such is necessarily that which bears every sort of
produce, for self-sufficiency means having a supply of everything and lacking nothing). In extent and
magnitude the land ought to be of a size that will enable the inhabitants to live a life of liberal and at the
same time temperate leisure. Whether this limiting principle is rightly or wrongly stated must be
considered more precisely later on,18 when we come to raise the general subject of property and the
ownership of wealth,how and in what way it ought to be related to the employment of wealth19;
about this question there are many controversies, owing to those that draw us towards either extreme
of life, the one school towards parsimony and the other towards luxury. The proper configuration of the
country it is not difficult to state (though there are some points on which the advice of military experts
also must be taken): on the one hand it should be difficult for enemies to invade and easy for the people
themselves to march out from, [1327a] [1] and in addition, on the other hand, the same thing holds
good of the territory that we said about the size of the populationit must be well able to be taken in at
one view, and that means being a country easy for military defence. As to the site of the city, if it is to be
ideally placed, it is proper for it to be well situated with regard both to the sea and to the country. One
defining principle is that mentioned above20the city must be in communication with all parts of the
territory for the purpose of sending out military assistance; and the remaining principle is that it must be
easily accessible for the conveyance to it of the agricultural produce, and also of timber-wood and any
other such material that the country happens to possess. As to communication with the sea it is in fact
much debated whether it is advantageous to well-ordered states or harmful. It is maintained that the
visits of persons brought up under other institutions are detrimental to law and order, and so also is a
swollen population, which grows out of sending out abroad and receiving in a number of traders, but is
unfavorable to good government. Now it is not difficult to see that, if these consequences are avoided, it
is advantageous in respect of both security and the supply of necessary commodities [20] that the city
and the country should have access to the sea. With a view to enduring wars more easily people that are
to be secure must be capable of defensive operations on both elements, land and sea, and with a view
to striking at assailants, even if it be not possible on both elements, yet to do so on one or the other will
be more in the power of people that have access to both. And the importation of commodities that they
do not happen to have in their own country and the export of their surplus products are things
indispensable; for the state ought to engage in commerce for its own interest, but not for the interest of
the foreigner. People that throw open their market to the world do so for the sake of revenue, but a
state that is not to take part in that sort of profit-making need not possess a great commercial port. But
since even now we see many countries and cities possessing sea-ports and harbors conveniently situated
with regard to the city, so as not to form part of the same town21 and yet not to be too far off, but
commanded by walls and other defence-works of the kind, it is manifest that if any advantage does
result through the communication of city with port the state will possess this advantage, and if there is
any harmful result it is easy to guard against it by means of laws stating and regulating what persons are
not and what persons are to have intercourse with one another. On the question of naval forces, there is
no doubt that to possess them up to a certain strength is most desirable [1327b] [1] (for a state ought to
be formidable, and also capable of the defence of not only its own people but also some of its neighbors,
by sea as well as by land); but when we come to the question of the number and size of this force, we
have to consider the state's manner of life if it is to live a life of leadership and affairs,22 it must possess
maritime as well as other forces commensurate with its activities. On the other hand it is not necessary
for states to include the teeming population that grows up in connection with common sailors, as there
is no need for these to be citizens; for the marines are free men and are a part of the infantry, and it is
they who have command and control the crew; and if there exists a mass of villagers and tillers of the
soil, there is bound to be no lack of sailors too. In fact we see this state of thing existing even now in
some places, for instance in the city of Heraclea; the Heracleotes man a large fleet of triremes, although
they possess a city of but moderate size as compared with others. Let such then be our conclusions
about the territories and harbors of cities, and the sea, and about naval forces. About the citizen
population, we said before what is its proper limit of numbers. Let us now speak [20] of what ought to
be the citizens' natural character. Now this one might almost discern by looking at the famous cities of
Greece and by observing how the whole inhabited world is divided up among the nations.23 The nations
inhabiting the cold places and those of Europe are full of spirit but somewhat deficient in intelligence
and skill, so that they continue comparatively free, but lacking in political organization and capacity to
rule their neighbors. The peoples of Asia on the other hand are intelligent and skillful in temperament,
but lack spirit, so that they are in continuous subjection and slavery. But the Greek race participates in
both characters, just as it occupies the middle position geographically, for it is both spirited and
intelligent; hence it continues to be free and to have very good political institutions, and to be capable of
ruling all mankind if it attains constitutional unity. The same diversity also exists among the Greek races
compared with one another: some have a one-sided nature, others are happily blended in regard to both
these capacities.24 It is clear therefore that people that are to be easily guided to virtue by the lawgiver
must be both intellectual and spirited in their nature. For as to what is said by certain persons about the
character that should belong to their Guardians25they should be affectionate to their friends but
fierce towards strangersit is spirit that causes affectionateness, for spirit is the capacity of the soul
whereby we love. [1328a] [1] A sign of this is that spirit is more roused against associates and friends
than against strangers, when it thinks itself slighted. Therefore Archilochus26 for instance, when
reproaching his friends, appropriately apostrophizes his spirit: For 'tis thy friends that make thee choke
with rage. Moreover it is from this faculty that power to command and love of freedom are in all cases
derived; for spirit is a commanding and indomitable element. But it is a mistake to describe the
Guardians as cruel towards strangers; it is not right to be cruel towards anybody, and men of great-
souled nature are not fierce except towards wrongdoers, and their anger is still fiercer against their
companions if they think that these are wronging them, as has been said before. And this is reasonable,
because they think that in addition to the harm done them they are also being defrauded of a benefit by
persons whom they believe to owe them one. Hence the sayings For brothers' wars are cruel,27 and
They that too deeply loved too deeply hate.28 We have now approximately decided what are the
proper numbers and the natural qualities of those who exercise the right of citizens, and the proper
extent and nature of the territory (for we must not [20] seek to attain the same exactness by means of
theoretical discussions as is obtained by means of the facts that come to us through sense-perceptions).
But since, just as with all other natural organisms those things that are indispensable for the existence of
the whole are not parts29 of the whole organization, it is also clear that not all the things that are
necessary for states to possess are to be counted as parts of a state (any more than this is so with any
other association that forms something one in kind, for there must be something that is one and
common and the same for the partners, whether the shares that they take be equal or unequal: for
example this common property may be food or an area of land or something else of the same sort30
but when of two related things one is a means and the other an end, in their case there is nothing in
common except for the one to act and the other to receive the action. I mean for instance the relation
between any instrument or artificer and the work that they produce: between a house and a builder
there is nothing that is produced in common, but the builder's craft exists for the sake of the house.
Hence although states need property, the property is no part of the state. And there are many living
things that fall under the head of property.31 And the state is one form of partnership of similar people,
and its object is the best life that is possible. And since the greatest good is happiness, and this is some
perfect activity or employment of virtue, and since it has so come about that it is possible for some men
to participate in it, but for others only to a small extent or not at all, it is clear that this is the cause for
there arising different kinds and varieties of state and several forms of constitution; [1328b] [1] for as
each set of people pursues participation in happiness in a different manner and by different means they
make for themselves different modes of life and different constitutions. And we must also further
consider how many there are of these things referred to that are indispensable for the existence of a
state; for among them will be the things which we pronounce to be parts of a state, owing to which their
presence is essential. We must therefore consider the list of occupations that a state requires : for from
these it will appear what the indispensable classes are. First then a state must have a supply of food;
secondly, handicrafts (since life needs many tools); third, arms (since the members of the association
must necessarily possess arms both to use among themselves and for purposes of government, in cases
of insubordination, and to employ against those who try to molest them from without); also a certain
abundance of money, in order that they may have enough both for their internal needs and for
requirements of war; fifth, a primary need, the service of religion, termed a priesthood; and sixth in
number and most necessary of all, a provision for deciding questions of interests and of rights between
the citizens. These then are the occupations that virtually every state requires (for the state is not any
chance multitude of people but one self-sufficient for the needs of life, as we say,32 and if any of these
industries happens to be wanting, it is impossible for that association to be absolutely self-sufficient). It
is necessary therefore for the state to be organized [20] on the lines of these functions; consequently it
must possess a number of farmers who will provide the food, and craftsmen, and the military class, and
the wealthy, and priests and judges to decide questions of necessity33 and of interests. These matters
having been settled, it remains to consider whether everybody is to take part in all of these functions (for
it is possible for the whole of the people to be at once farmers and craftsmen and the councillors and
judges), or whether we are to assume different classes corresponding to each of the functions
mentioned, or whether some of them must necessarily be specialized and others combined. But it will
not be the same in every form of constitution; for, as we said,34 it is possible either for all the people to
take part in all the functions or for not all to take part in all but for certain people to have certain
functions. In fact these different distributions of functions are the cause of the difference between
constitutions: democracies are states in which all the people participate in all the functions, oligarchies
where the contrary is the case. But at present we are studying the best constitution, and this is the
constitution under which the state would be most happy, and it has been stated before35 that happiness
cannot be forthcoming without virtue; it is therefore clear from these considerations that in the most
nobly constituted state, and the one that possesses men that are absolutely just, not merely just
relatively to the principle that is the basis of the constitution, the citizens must not live a mechanic or a
mercantile life (for such a life is ignoble and inimical to virtue), nor yet must those who are to be citizens
in the best state be tillers of the soil [1329a] [1] (for leisure is needed both for the development of virtue
and for active participation in politics). And since the state also contains the military class and the class
that deliberates about matters of policy and judges questions of justice, and these are manifestly in a
special sense parts of the state, are these classes also to be set down as distinct or are both functions to
be assigned to the same persons? But here also the answer is clear, because in a certain sense they
should be assigned to the same persons, but in a certain sense to different ones. Inasmuch as each of
these two functions belongs to a different prime of life, and one requires wisdom, the other strength,
they are to be assigned to different people; but inasmuch as it is a thing impossible that when a set of
men are able to employ force and to resist control, these should submit always to be ruled, from this
point of view both functions must be assigned to the same people; for those who have the power of
arms have the power to decide whether the constitution shall stand or fall. The only course left them is
to assign this constitutional function to both sets of men without distinction,36 yet not simultaneously,
but, as in the natural order of things strength is found in the younger men and wisdom in the elder, it
seems to be expedient and just for their functions to be allotted to both in this way, for this mode of
division possesses conformity with merit. Moreover the ownership of properties also must be centered
round these classes, for the citizens must necessarily possess plentiful means, and these are the citizens.
For the [20] artisan class has no share in the state, nor has any other class that is not an artificer of
virtue.37 And this is clear from our basic principle; for in conjunction with virtue happiness is bound to
be forthcoming, but we should pronounce a state happy having regard not to a particular section of it
but to all its citizens. And it is also manifest that the properties must belong to these classes, inasmuch
as38 it is necessary for the tillers of the soil to be slaves, or serfs of alien race. There remains of the list
enumerated the class of priests; and the position of this class also is manifest. Priests must be appointed
neither from the tillers of the soil nor from the artisans, for it is seemly that the gods should be
worshipped by citizens; and since the citizen body is divided into two parts, the military class and the
councillor class, and as it is seemly that those who have relinquished these duties owing to age should
render to the gods their due worship and should spend their retirement in their service, it is to these
that the priestly offices should be assigned. We have therefore stated the things indispensable for the
constitution of a state, and the things that are parts of a state: tillers of the soil, craftsmen and the
laboring class generally are a necessary appurtenance of states, but the military and deliberative classes
are parts of the state; and moreover each of these divisions is separate from the others, either
permanently or by turn.39 And that it is proper for the state to be divided up into castes and for the
military class to be distinct from that of the tillers of the soil [1329b] [1] does not seem to be a discovery
of political philosophers of today or one made recently.40 In Egypt this arrangement still exists even now,
as also in Crete; it is said to have been established in Egypt by the legislation of Sesostris and in Crete by
that of Minos. Common meals also seem to be an ancient institution, those in Crete having begun in the
reign of Minos, while those in Italy are much older than these. According to the historians one of the
settlers there, a certain Italus, became king of Oenotria, and from him they took the name of Italians
instead of that of Oenotrians, and the name of Italy was given to all that promontory41 of Europe lying
between the Gulfs of Scylletium and of Lametus,42 which are half a day's journey apart. It was this Italus
then who according to tradition converted the Oenotrians from a pastoral life to one of agriculture and
gave them various ordinances, being the first to institute their system of common meals; hence the
common meals and some of his laws are still observed by certain of his successors even today. The
settlers in the direction of Tyrrhenia43 were Opicans, who today as in former times bear the surname of
[20] Ausonians; the region towards Iapygia44 and the Ionian Gulf, called Syrtis, was inhabited by the
Chones, who also were Oenotrians by race. It is from this country that the system of common meals has
its origin, while the division of the citizen-body by hereditary caste came from Egypt, for the reign of
Sesostris long antedates that of Minos. We may almost take it therefore that all other political devices
also have been discovered repeatedly, or rather an infinite number of times over, in the lapse of ages; for
the discoveries of a necessary kind are probably taught by need itself, and when the necessaries have
been provided it is reasonable that things contributing to refinement and luxury should find their
development; so that we must assume that this is the way with political institutions also. The antiquity
of all of them is indicated by the history of Egypt; for the Egyptians are reputed to be the oldest of
nations, but they have always had laws and a political system. Hence we should use the results of
previous discovery when adequate, while endeavoring to investigate matters hitherto passed over. It has
been stated before that the land ought to be owned by those who possess arms and those who share
the rights of the constitution, and why the cultivators ought to be a different caste from these, and what
is the proper extent and conformation of the country. We have now to discuss first the allotment of the
land, and the proper class and character of its cultivators; since we advocate not common ownership of
land, as some have done, [1330a] [1] but community in it brought about in a friendly way by the use of
it,45 and we hold that no citizen should be ill supplied with means of subsistence. As to common meals,
all agree that this is an institution advantageous for well-organized states to possess; our own reasons
for sharing this view we will state later.46 But the common meals must be shared by all the citizens, and
it is not easy for the poor to contribute their assessed share from their private means and also to
maintain their household as well. And moreover the expenses connected with religion are the common
concern of the whole state. It is necessary therefore for the land to be divided into two parts, of which
one must be common and the other the private property of individuals; and each of these two divisions
must again be divided in two. Of the common land one portion should be assigned to the services of
religion, and the other to defray the cost of the common meals; of the land in private ownership one
part should be the district near the frontiers, and another the district near the city, in order that two
plots may be assigned to each citizen and all may have a share in both districts. This arrangement
satisfies equity and justice, and also conduces to greater unanimity in facing border warfare. Where this
system is not followed, one set of people are reckless about quarrelling with the neighboring states, [20]
and the other set are too cautious and neglect considerations of honor. Hence some people have a law
that the citizens whose land is near the frontier are not to take part in deliberation as to wars against
neighboring states, on the ground that private interest would prevent them from being able to take
counsel wisely. The land must therefore be divided up in this manner because of the reasons aforesaid.
Those who are to cultivate the soil should best of all, if the ideal system is to be stated, be slaves, not
drawn from people all of one tribe nor of a spirited character (for thus they would be both serviceable
for their work and safe to abstain from insurrection), but as a second best they should be alien serfs of a
similar nature. Of these laborers those in private employment must be among the private possessions of
the owners of the estates, and those working on the common land common property. How slaves should
be employed, and why it is advantageous that all slaves should have their freedom set before them as a
reward, we will say later.47 It has been said before that the city should so far as circumstances permit be
in communication alike with the mainland, the sea and the whole of its territory. The site of the city itself
we must pray that fortune may place on sloping ground, having regard to four considerations48: first, as
a thing essential, the consideration of health (for cities whose site slopes east or towards the breezes
that blow from the sunrise are more healthy, and in the second degree those that face away from the
north wind,49 for these are milder in winter); [1330b] [1] and among the remaining considerations, a
sloping site is favorable both for political and for military purposes. For military purposes therefore the
site should be easy of exit for the citizens themselves, and difficult for the adversary to approach and to
blockade, and it must possess if possible a plentiful natural supply of pools and springs, but failing this, a
mode has been invented of supplying water by means of constructing an abundance of large reservoirs
for rain-water, so that a supply may never fail the citizens when they are debarred from their territory by
war. And since we have to consider the health of the inhabitants, and this depends upon the place being
well situated both on healthy ground and with a healthy aspect, and secondly upon using wholesome
water-supplies, the following matter also must be attended to as of primary importance. Those things
which we use for the body in the largest quantity, and most frequently, contribute most to health; and
the influence of the water-supply and of the air is of this nature. Hence in wise cities if all the sources of
water are not equally pure and there is not an abundance of suitable springs, the water-supplies for
drinking must be kept separate from those for other requirements. As to fortified positions, what is
expedient is not the same for all forms of constitution alike; for example, a citadel-hill is suitable for
oligarchy and monarchy, [20] and a level site for democracy; neither is favorable to an aristocracy, but
rather several strong positions. The arrangement of the private dwellings is thought to be more
agreeable and more convenient for general purposes if they are laid out in straight streets, after the
modern fashion, that is, the one introduced by Hippodamus50; but it is more suitable for security in war
if it is on the contrary plan, as cities used to be in ancient times; for that arrangement is difficult for
foreign troops51 to enter and to find their way about in when attacking. Hence it is well to combine the
advantages of both plans (for this is possible if the houses are laid out in the way which among the
farmers some people call on the slant52 in the case of vines), and not to lay out the whole city in
straight streets, but only certain parts and districts, for in this way it will combine security with beauty.
As regards walls, those who aver that cities which pretend to valor should not have them hold too old-
fashioned a viewand that though they see that the cities that indulge in that form of vanity are refuted
by experience. It is true that against an evenly matched foe and one little superior in numbers it is not
honorable to try to secure oneself by the strength of one's fortifications; but as it does and may happen
that the superior numbers of the attackers may be too much for the human valor of a small force, if the
city is to survive and not to suffer disaster or insult, the securest fortification of walls must be deemed to
be the most warlike, [1331a] [1] particularly in view of the inventions that have now been made in the
direction of precision with missiles and artillery for sieges. To claim not to encompass cities with walls is
like desiring53 the country to be easy to invade and stripping it of hilly regions, and similarly not
surrounding even private dwellings with house-walls on the ground that the inhabitants will be cowardly.
Another point moreover that must not be forgotten is that those who have walls round the city can use
their cities in both ways, both as walled cities and as open ones, whereas cities not possessing walls
cannot be used in both ways. If then this is so, not only must walls be put round a city, but also attention
must be paid to them in order that they may be suitable both in regard to the adornment of the city and
in respect of military requirements, especially the new devices recently invented. For just as the
attackers of a city are concerned to study the means by which they can gain the advantage, so also for
the defenders some devices have already been invented and others they must discover and think out;
for people do not even start attempting to attack those who are well prepared. And since the multitude
of citizens must be distributed [20] in separate messes, and the city walls must be divided up by guard-
posts and towers in suitable places, it is clear that these facts themselves call for some of the messes to
be organized at these guard-posts. These things then might be arranged in this manner. But it is fitting
that the dwellings assigned to the gods and the most important of the official messes should have a
suitable site, and the same for all, excepting those temples which are assigned a special place apart by
the law or else by some utterance of the Pythian oracle. And the site would be suitable if it is one that is
sufficiently conspicuous in regard to the excellence of its position, and also of superior strength in regard
to the adjacent parts of the city. It is convenient that below this site should be laid out an agora of the
kind customary in Thessaly which they call a free agora, that is, one which has to be kept clear of all
merchandise and into which no artisan or farmer or any other such person may intrude unless
summoned by the magistrates. It would give amenity to the site if the gymnasia of the older men were
also situated herefor it is proper to have this institution also divided according to ages,54 and for
certain magistrates to pass their time among the youths while the older men spend theirs with the
magistrates; for the presence of the magistrates before men's eyes most engenders true respect and a
freeman's awe. [1331b] [1] The agora for merchandise must be different from the free agora, and in
another place; it must have a site convenient for the collection there of all the goods sent from the
seaport and from the country. And as the divisions of the state's populace include55 priests and
magistrates, it is suitable that the priests' mess-rooms also should have their position round that of the
sacred buildings. And all the magistracies that superintend contracts, and the registration of actions at
law, summonses and other such matters of administration, and also those that deal with the control of
the markets and with what is termed policing the city, should have buildings adjacent to an agora or
some public place of resort, and such a place is the neighborhood of the business agora, for we assign
the upper agora as the place in which to spend leisure, and this one for necessary business. The
arrangements in the country also should copy the plan described; there too the magistrates called in
some states Wardens of the Woods and in others Land-superintendents must have their guard-posts and
mess-rooms for patrol duty, and also temples must be distributed over the country, some dedicated to
gods and some to heroes. But to linger at this point over the detailed statement and discussion of
questions of this kind is waste of time. [20] The difficulty with such things is not so much in the matter of
theory but in that of practice; to lay down principles is a work of aspiration, but their realization is the
task of fortune. Hence we will relinquish for the present the further consideration of matters of this sort.
We must now discuss the constitution itself, and ask what and of what character should be the
components of the state that is to have felicity and good government. There are two things in which the
welfare of all men consists: one of these is the correct establishment of the aim and end of their actions,
the other the ascertainment of the actions leading to that end. (For the end proposed and the means
adopted may be inconsistent with one another, as also they may be consistent; sometimes the aim has
been correctly proposed, but people fail to achieve it in action, sometimes they achieve all the means
successfully but the end that they posited was a bad one, and sometimes they err as to bothfor
instance, in medicine practitioners are sometimes both wrong in their judgement of what qualities a
healthy body ought to possess and unsuccessful in hitting on effective means to produce the distinctive
aim that they have set before them; whereas in the arts and sciences both these things have to be
secured, the end and the practical means to the end.) Now it is clear that all men aim at the good life
and at happiness, but though some possess the power to attain these things, some do not, owing to
some factor of fortune or of nature (fortune because the good life needs also a certain equipment of
means, [1332a] [1] and although it needs less of this for men of better natural disposition it needs more
for those of worse); while others, although they have the power, go wrong at the start in their search for
happiness.56 But the object before us is to discern the best constitution, and this is the one under which
a state will be best governed, and a state will be best governed under the constitution under which it has
the most opportunity for happiness; it is therefore clear that we must know what happiness is. The view
that we maintain (and this is the definition that we laid down in theEthics,57 if those discourses are of
any value) is that happiness is the complete activity and employment of virtue, and this not conditionally
but absolutely. When I say conditionally I refer to things necessary, by absolutely I mean nobly: for
instance, to take the case of just actions, just acts of vengeance and of punishment spring it is true from
virtue, but are necessary, and have the quality of nobility only in a limited manner (since it would be
preferable that neither individual nor state should have any need of such things), whereas actions aiming
at honors and resources58 are the noblest actions absolutely; for the former class of acts consist in the
removal59 of something evil, but actions of the latter kind are the oppositethey are the foundation
and the generation of things good. The virtuous man will use even poverty, disease, and [20] the other
forms of bad fortune in a noble manner, but felicity consists in their opposites (for it is a definition
established by our ethical discourses60 that the virtuous man is the man of such a character that
because of his virtue things absolutely good are good to him, and it is therefore clear that his
employment of these goods must also be virtuous and noble absolutely); and hence men actually
suppose that external goods are the cause of happiness, just as if they were to assign the cause of a
brilliantly fine performance on the harp to the instrument rather than to the skill of the player. It follows
therefore from what has been said that some goods must be forthcoming to start with and others must
be provided by the legislator. Hence we pray that the organization of the state may be successful in
securing those goods which are in the control of fortune (for that fortune does control external goods we
take as axiomatic); but when we come to the state's being virtuous, to secure this is not the function of
fortune but of science and policy. But then the virtue of the state is of course caused by the citizens who
share in its government being virtuous; and in our state all the citizens share in the government. The
point we have to consider therefore is, how does a man become virtuous? For even if it be possible for
the citizens to be virtuous collectively without being so individually, the latter is preferable, since for
each individual to be virtuous entails as a consequence the collective virtue of all. But there are
admittedly three things by which men are made good and virtuous, and these three things are nature,
habit and reason. For to start with, one must be born with the nature of a human being and not of some
other animal; and secondly, one must be born of a certain quality of body and of soul. But there are
some qualities that it is of no use to be born with, [1332b] [1] for our habits make us alter them: some
qualities in fact are made by nature liable to be modified by the habits in either direction, for the worse
or for the better. Now the other animals live chiefly by nature, though some in small degrees are guided
by habits too; but man lives by reason also, for he alone of animals possesses reason; so that in him
these three things must be in harmony with one another; for men often act contrary to their acquired
habits and to their nature because of their reason, if they are convinced that some other course of
action is preferable. Now we have already61 defined the proper natural character of those who are to
be amenable to the hand of the legislator; what now remains is the task of education, for men learn
some things by practice, others by precept. But since every political community is composed of rulers
and subjects, we must therefore consider whether the rulers and the subjects ought to change, or to
remain the same through life; for it is clear that their education also will have to be made to correspond
with this distribution of functions. If then it were the case that the one class differed from the other as
widely as we believe the gods and heroes to differ from mankind, having first a great superiority in
regard to the body and then in regard to [20] the soul, so that the pre-eminence of the rulers was
indisputable and manifest to the subjects, it is clear that it would be better for the same persons always
to be rulers and subjects once for all; but as this is not easy to secure, and as we do not find anything
corresponding to the great difference that Scylax states to exist between kings and subjects in India, it is
clear that for many reasons it is necessary for all to share alike in ruling and being ruled in turn. For
equality means for persons who are alike identity of status, and also it is difficult62 for a constitution to
endure that is framed in contravention of justice. For all the people throughout the country are ranged
on the side of the subject class in wishing for a revolution, and it is a thing inconceivable that those in
the government should be sufficiently numerous to over power all of these together. But yet on the
other hand that the rulers ought to be superior to the subjects cannot be disputed; therefore the
lawgiver must consider how this is to be secured, and how they are to participate in the government.
And this has been already63 discussed. Nature has given the distinction by making the group that is itself
the same in race partly younger and partly older, of which two sets it is appropriate to the one to be
governed and for the other to govern; and no one chafes or thinks himself better than his rulers when he
is governed on the ground of age, especially as he is going to get back what he has thus contributed to
the common stock when he reaches the proper age. In a sense therefore we must say that the rulers and
ruled are the same, and in a sense different. [1333a] [1] Hence their education also is bound to be in one
way the same and in another different. For he who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled, as
the saying is64 (and government, as has been said in the first discourses,65 is of two sorts, one carried
on for the sake of the ruler and the other for the sake of the subject; of these the former is what we call
the rule of a master,the latter is the government of free men . . .66 But some of the commands given
differ not in nature of the services commanded but in their object. Hence a number of what are thought
to be menial services can be honorably performed even by freemen in youth; since in regard to honor
and dishonor actions do not differ so much in themselves as in their end and object). But since we say
that the goodness of a citizen67 and ruler are the same as that of the best man, and that the same
person ought to become a subject first and a ruler afterwards, it will be important for the legislator to
study how and by what courses of training good men are to be produced, and what is the end of the best
life. The soul is divided into two parts, of which one is in itself possessed of reason, while the other is
not rational in itself but capable of obeying reason. To these parts in our view belong those virtues in
accordance with which a man is pronounced to be good in some way. But in which of these [20] two
parts the end of man rather resides, those who define the parts of the soul in accordance with our view
will have no doubt as to how they should decide. The worse always exists as a means to the better, and
this is manifest alike in the products of art and in those of nature; but the rational part of the soul is
better than the irrational. And the rational part is subdivided into two, according to our usual scheme of
division; for reason is of two kinds, practical and theoretic, so that obviously the rational part of the soul
must also be subdivided accordingly. A corresponding classification we shall also pronounce to hold
among its activities: the activities of the part of the soul that is by nature superior must be preferable for
those persons who are capable of attaining either all the soul's activities or two68 out of the three; since
that thing is always most desirable for each person which is the highest to which it is possible for him to
attain. Also life as a whole is divided into business and leisure, and war and peace, and our actions are
aimed some of them at things necessary and useful, others at things noble. In these matters the same
principle of preference that applies to the parts of the soul must apply also to the activities of those
parts: war must be for the sake of peace, business for the sake of leisure, things necessary and useful for
the purpose of things noble. The statesman therefore must legislate with all these considerations in
view, both in respect of the parts of the soul and of their activities, and aiming more particularly at the
greater goods and the ends. And the same principle applies in regard to modes of life and choices of
conduct: a man should be capable of engaging in business and war, [1333b] [1] but still more capable of
living in peace and leisure; and he should do what is necessary and useful, but still more should he do
what is noble. These then are the aims that ought to be kept in view in the education of the citizens both
while still children and at the later ages that require education. But the Greek peoples reputed at the
present day to have the best constitutions, and the lawgivers that established them, manifestly did not
frame their constitutional systems with reference to the best end, nor construct their laws and their
scheme of education with a view to all the virtues, but they swerved aside in a vulgar manner towards
those excellences that are supposed to be useful and more conducive to gain. And following the same
lines as they, some later writers also have pronounced the same opinion: in praising the Spartan
constitution they express admiration for the aim of its founder on the ground that he framed the whole
of his legislation with a view to conquest and to war. These views are easy to refute on theoretical
grounds and also have now been refuted by the facts of history. For just as most of mankind covet being
master of many servants69 because this produces a manifold supply of fortune's goods, so Thibron70
and all the other writers about the Spartan constitution [20] show admiration for the lawgiver of the
Spartans because owing to their having been trained to meet dangers they governed a wide empire. Yet
it clearly follows that since as a matter of fact at the present day the Spartans no longer possess an
empire, they are not happy, and their lawgiver was not a good one. And it is ridiculous that although
they have kept to his laws, and although nothing hinders their observing the laws, they have lost the
noble life. Also writers have a wrong conception of the power for which the lawgiver should display
esteem; to govern freemen is nobler and more conjoined with virtue than to rule despotically. And again
it is not a proper ground for deeming a state happy and for praising its lawgiver, that it has practised
conquest with a view to ruling71 over its neighbors. This principle is most disastrous; it follows from it
that an individual citizen who has the capacity ought to endeavor to attain the power to hold sway over
his own city; but this is just what the Spartans charge as a reproach against their king Pausanias,
although he attained such high honor. No principle therefore and no law of this nature is either
statesmanlike or profitable, nor is it true; the same ideals are the best both for individuals and for
communities, and the lawgiver should endeavor to implant them in the souls of mankind. The proper
object of practising military training is not in order that men may enslave those who do not deserve
slavery, but in order that first they may themselves avoid becoming enslaved to others; then so that they
may seek suzerainty for the benefit of the subject people, [1334a] [1] but not for the sake of world-wide
despotism; and thirdly to hold despotic power over those who deserve to be slaves. Experience supports
the testimony of theory, that it is the duty of the lawgiver rather to study how he may frame his
legislation both with regard to warfare and in other departments for the object of leisure and of peace.
Most military states remain safe while at war but perish when they have won their empire; in peace-
time they lose their keen temper, like iron.72 The lawgiver is to blame, because he did not educate them
to be able to employ leisure. And since it appears that men have the same end collectively and
individually, and since the same distinctive aim must necessarily belong both to the best man and to the
best government, it is clear that the virtues relating to leisure are essential73; since, as has been said
repeatedly, peace is the end of war, leisure of business. But the virtues useful for leisure and for its
employment are not only those that operate during leisure but also those that operate in business; for
many of the necessaries must needs be forthcoming to give us opportunity for leisure. Therefore it is
proper for the state to be temperate, [20] brave and enduring; since, as the proverb goes, there is no
leisure for slaves, but people unable to face danger bravely are the slaves of their assailants. Therefore
courage and fortitude are needed for business, love of wisdom for leisure, temperance and justice for
both seasons, and more especially when men are at peace and have leisure; for war compels men to be
just and temperate, whereas the enjoyment of prosperity and peaceful leisure tend to make them
insolent. Therefore much justice and much temperance are needed by those who are deemed very
prosperous and who enjoy all the things counted as blessings, like the persons, if such there be, as the
poets say,74 that dwell in the Islands of the Blest; these will most need wisdom, temperance and justice,
the more they are at leisure and have an abundance of such blessings. It is clear therefore why a state
that is to be happy and righteous must share in these virtues; for if it is disgraceful to be unable to use
our good things, it is still more disgraceful to be unable to use them in time of leisure, and although
showing ourselves good men when engaged in business and war, in times of peace and leisure to seem
no better than slaves. Therefore we must not cultivate virtue after the manner of the state of Sparta. The
superiority of the Spartans over other races does not lie [1334b] [1] in their holding a different opinion
from others as to what things are the greatest goods, but rather in their believing that these are
obtained by means of one particular virtue; yet because they both deem these things and their
enjoyment to be greater goods than the enjoyment of the virtues . . .75 . . . and that it is to be practised
for its own sake is manifest from these considerations; but it must now be considered how and by what
means this will come about. Now we have indeed previously decided that it requires nature and habit
and reason, and among these, what particular quality of nature men ought to possess has been defined
previously; but it remains to consider whether men ought to be educated first by means of the reason or
by the habits. For between reason and habit the most perfect harmony ought to exist, as it is possible
both for the reason to have missed the highest principle and for men to have been as wrongly trained
through the habits. This therefore at all events is clear in the first place, in the case of men as of other
creatures, that their engendering starts from a beginning, and that the end starts from a certain
beginning that is another end,76 and that reason and intelligence are for us the end of our natural
development, so that it is with a view to these ends that our engendering and the training of our habits
must be regulated. And secondly, as soul and body are two, so we observe that the soul also has two
parts, the irrational part and the part possessing reason, and that the states which they experience are
two in number, [20] the one being desire and the other intelligence; and as the body is prior in its
development to the soul, so the irrational part of the soul is prior to the rational. And this also is obvious,
because passion and will, and also appetite,77 exist in children even as soon as they are born, but it is
the nature of reasoning and intelligence to arise in them as they grow older. Therefore in the first place it
is necessary for the training of the body to precede that of the mind, and secondly for the training of the
appetite to precede that of the intelligence; but the training of the appetite must be for the sake of the
intellect, and that of the body for the sake of the soul. Inasmuch therefore as it is the duty of the
lawgiver to consider from the start how the children reared are to obtain the best bodily frames, he must
first pay attention to the union of the sexes, and settle when and in what condition a couple should
practise matrimonial intercourse. In legislating for this partnership he must pay regard partly to the
persons themselves and to their span of life, so that they may arrive together at the same period in their
ages, and their powers may not be at discord through the man being still capable of parentage and the
wife incapable, or the wife capable and the man not (for this causes differences and actual discord
between them), and also he must consider as well the succession of the children, for the children must
neither be too far removed in their ages from the fathers (since elderly fathers get no good from their
children's return of their favors, nor do the children from the help they get from the fathers), [1335a] [1]
nor must they be too near them (for this involves much unpleasantness, since in such families there is
less respect felt between them, as between companions of the same age, and also the nearness of age
leads to friction in household affairs); and in addition, to return to the point from which we began this
digression, measures must be taken to ensure that the children produced may have bodily frames suited
to the wish of the lawgiver. These results then are almost all attained by one mode of regulation. For
since the period of parentage terminates, speaking generally, with men at the age of seventy at the
outside, and with women at fifty, the commencement of their union should correspond in respect of age
with these times. But the mating of the young is bad for child-bearing; for in all animal species the
offspring of the young are more imperfect and likely to produce female children,78 and small in figure,
so that the same thing must necessarily occur in the human race also. And a proof of this is that in all the
states where it is the local custom to mate young men and young women, the people are deformed and
small of body. And again young women labor more, and more of them die in childbirth; indeed according
to some accounts such was the reason why the oracle79 was given [20] to the people of Troezen,
because many were dying owing to its being their custom for the women to marry young, and it did not
refer to the harvest. And again it also contributes to chastity for the bestowal of women in marriage to
be made when they are older, for it is thought that they are more licentious when they have had
intercourse in youth. Also the males are thought to be arrested in bodily growth if they have intercourse
while the seed is still growing, for this also has a fixed period after passing which it is no longer plentiful.
Therefore it is fitting for the women to be married at about the age of eighteen and the men at thirty-
seven or a little before80for that will give long enough for the union to take place with their bodily
vigor at its prime, and for it to arrive with a convenient coincidence of dates at the time when
procreation ceases. Moreover the succession of the children to the estates, if their birth duly occurs
soon after the parents marry, will take place when they are beginning their prime, and when the parents'
period of vigor has now come to a close, towards the age of seventy. The proper age therefore for union
has been discussed; as to the proper times in respect of the season we may accept what is customary
with most people, who have rightly decided even as it is to practise marital cohabitation in winter. And
people should also study for themselves, when their time comes, the teachings of physicians and natural
philosophers on the subject of the procreation of children; the suitable bodily seasons are adequately
discussed by the physicians, [1335b] [1] and the question of weather by the natural philosophers, who
say that north winds are more favorable than south. The particular kind of bodily constitution in the
parents that will be most beneficial for the offspring must be dwelt on more in detail in our discussion of
the management of children81; it is sufficient to speak of it in outline now. The athlete's habit of body is
not serviceable for bodily fitness as required by a citizen, nor for health and parentage, nor yet is a habit
that is too valetudinarian and unfit for labor, but the condition that lies between them. The bodily habit
therefore should have been trained by exercise, but not by exercises that are violent, and not for one
form of labor only, as is the athlete's habit of body, but for the pursuits of free men. And these
arrangements must be provided alike for men and women. And pregnant women also must take care of
their bodies, not avoiding exercise nor adopting a low diet; this it is easy for the lawgiver to secure by
ordering them to make a journey daily for the due worship of the deities whose office is the control of
childbirth. As regards the mind, however, on the contrary it suits them to pass the time more indolently
than as regards their bodies; for children before birth are evidently affected by the mother just as
growing plants are by the earth.As to exposing or [20] rearing the children born, let there be a law that
no deformed child shall be reared; but on the ground of number of children, if the regular customs
hinder any of those born being exposed, there must be a limit fixed to the procreation of offspring, and if
any people have a child as a result of intercourse in contravention of these regulations, abortion must be
practised on it before it has developed sensation and life; for the line between lawful and unlawful
abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive. And since the beginning of the fit
age for a man and for a woman, at which they are to begin their union, has been defined, let it also be
decided for how long a time it is suitable for them to serve the state in the matter of producing children.
For the offspring of too elderly parents, as those of too young ones, are born imperfect both in body and
mind, and the children of those that have arrived at old age are weaklings. Therefore the period must be
limited to correspond with the mental prime; and this in the case of most men is the age stated by some
of the poets, who measure men's age by periods of seven years,82it is about the age of fifty. Therefore
persons exceeding this age by four or five years must be discharged from the duty of producing children
for the community, and for the rest of their lives if they have intercourse it must be manifestly for the
sake of health or for some other similar reason. As to intercourse with another woman or man, in
general it must be dishonorable for them to be known to take any part in it in any circumstances
whatsoever as long as they are husband and wife and bear those names, but any who may be discovered
doing anything of the sort during their period of parentage [1336a] [1] must be punished with a loss of
privilege suited to the offence. When the children have been born, the particular mode of rearing
adopted must be deemed an important determining influence in regard to their power of body. It
appears from examining the other animals, and is also shown by the foreign races that make it their aim
to keep up the military habit of body, that a diet giving an abundance of milk is most suited to the bodies
of children, and one that allows rather little wine because of the diseases that it causes. Moreover it is
advantageous to subject them to as many movements as are practicable with children of that age. To
prevent the limbs from being distorted owing to softness, some races even now employ certain
mechanical appliances that keep the bodies of infants from being twisted. And it is also advantageous to
accustom them at once from early childhood to cold, for this is most useful both for health and with a
view to military service. Hence among many non-Greek races it is customary in the case of some peoples
to wash the children at birth by dipping them in a cold river, and with others, for instance the Celts, to
give them scanty covering. For it is better to inure them at the very start to everything possible, but to
inure them gradually; [20] and the bodily habit of children is naturally well fitted by warmth to be trained
to bear cold. In the earliest period of life then it is expedient to employ this or a similar method of
nursing; and the next period to this, up to the age of five, which it is not well to direct as yet to any study
nor to compulsory labors, in order that they may not hinder the growth, should nevertheless be allowed
enough movement to avoid bodily inactivity; and this exercise should be obtained by means of various
pursuits, particularly play. But even the games must not be unfit for freemen, nor laborious, nor
undisciplined. Also the question of the kind of tales and stories that should be told to children of this age
must be attended to by the officials called Children's Tutors. For all such amusements should prepare the
way for their later pursuits; hence most children's games should be imitations of the serious occupations
of later life. The legislators in theLaws83 forbid allowing children to have paroxysms of crying, but this
prohibition is a mistake; violent crying contributes to growth, for it serves in a way as exercise for the
body, since holding the breath is the strength giving factor in hard labor, and this takes place also with
children when they stretch themselves in crying. The Tutors must supervise the children's pastimes, and
in particular must see that they associate as little as possible with slaves. For children of this age, [1336b]
[1] and up to seven years old, must necessarily be reared at home; so it is reasonable to suppose that
even at this age they may acquire a taint of illiberality from what they hear and see. The lawgiver ought
therefore to banish indecent talk, as much as anything else, out of the state altogether (for light talk
about anything disgraceful soon passes into action)so most of all from among the young, so that they
may not say nor hear anything of the sort; and anybody found saying or doing any of the things
prohibited, if he is of free station but not yet promoted to reclining at the public meals, must be
punished with marks of dishonor and with beating, and an older offender must be punished with marks
of dishonor degrading to a free man, because of his slavish behavior. And since we banish any talk of this
kind, clearly we must also banish the seeing of either pictures or representations that are indecent. The
officials must therefore be careful that there may be no sculpture or painting that represents indecent
actions, except in the temples of a certain class of gods to whom the law allows even scurrility; but in
regard to these84 the law permits men still of suitable age to worship the gods both on their own behalf
and on behalf of the children and women. [20] But the younger ones must not be allowed in the
audience at lampoons85 and at comedy, before they reach the age at which they will now have the right
to recline at table in company and to drink deeply, and at which their education will render all of them
immune to the harmful effects of such things. For the present therefore we have merely mentioned
these matters in passing, but later we must stop to settle them more definitely, first discussing fully
whether legislation prohibiting the attendance of the young is desirable or not, and how such prohibition
should be put in force; but on the present occasion we have touched on the question only in the manner
necessary. For perhaps the tragic actor Theodorus86 used to put the matter not badly: he had never
once allowed anybody to produce his part87 before him, not even one of the poor actors, as he said that
audiences are attracted by what they hear first; and this happens alike in regard to our dealings with
people and to our dealings with thingsall that comes first we like better. On this account we ought to
make all base things unfamiliar to the young, and especially those that involve either depravity or
malignity. But when the five years from two to seven have passed, the children must now become
spectators at the lessons88 which they will themselves have to learn. And there are two ages
corresponding to which education should be dividedthere must be a break after the period from seven
to puberty, and again after that from puberty to twenty-one. For those who divide the ages by periods of
seven years are generally speaking not wrong,89 [1337a] [1] and it is proper to follow the division of
nature, for all art and education aim at filling up nature's deficiencies. First therefore we must consider
whether some regulation in regard to the boys ought to be instituted, next whether it is advantageous
for their supervision to be conducted on a public footing or in a private manner as is done at present in
most states, and thirdly of what particular nature this supervision ought to be. [1337a] [11] 1Now
nobody would dispute that the education of the young requires the special attention of the lawgiver.
Indeed the neglect of this in states is injurious to their constitutions; for education ought to be adapted
to the particular form of constitution, since the particular character belonging to each constitution both
guards the constitution generally and originally establishes itfor instance the democratic spirit
promotes democracy and the oligarchic spirit oligarchy; and the best spirit always causes a better
constitution. Moreover in regard to all the faculties and crafts certain forms of preliminary education
[20] and training in their various operations are necessarys o that manifestly this is also requisite in
regard to the actions of virtue. And inasmuch as the end for the whole state is one, it is manifest that
education also must necessarily be one and the same for all and that the superintendence of this must
be public, and not on private lines, in the way in which at present each man superintends the education
of his own children, teaching them privately, and whatever special branch of knowledge he thinks fit. But
matters of public interest ought to be under public supervision; at the same time we ought not to think
that any of the citizens belongs to himself, but that all belong to the state, for each is a part of the state,
and it is natural for the superintendence of the several parts to have regard to the superintendence of
the whole. And one might praise the Spartans in respect of this, for they pay the greatest attention to
the training of their children, and conduct it on a public system. It is clear then that there should be
legislation about education and that it should be conducted on a public system. But consideration must
be given to the question, what constitutes education and what is the proper way to be educated. At
present there are differences of opinion as to the proper tasks to be set; for all peoples do not agree as
to the things that the young ought to learn, either with a view to virtue or with a view to the best life,
nor is it clear whether their studies should be regulated more with regard to intellect or with regard to
character. And confusing questions arise out of the education that actually prevails, and it is not at all
clear whether the pupils should practise pursuits that are practically morally edifying, or higher
accomplishmentsfor all these views have won the support of some judges; [1337b] [1] and nothing is
agreed as regards the exercise conducive to virtue, for, to start with, all men do not honor the same
virtue, so that they naturally hold different opinions in regard to training in virtue. It is therefore not
difficult to see that the young must be taught those useful arts that are indispensably necessary; but it is
clear that they should not be taught all the useful arts, those pursuits that are liberal being kept distinct
from those that are illiberal, and that they must participate in such among the useful arts as will not
render the person who participates in them vulgar. A task and also an art or a science must be deemed
vulgar if it renders the body or soul or mind of free men useless for the employments and actions of
virtue. Hence we entitle vulgar all such arts as deteriorate the condition of the body, and also the
industries that earn wages; for they make the mind preoccupied and degraded. And even with the liberal
sciences, although it is not illiberal to take part in some of them up to a point, to devote oneself to them
too assiduously and carefully is liable to have the injurious results specified. Also it makes much
difference what object one has in view in a pursuit or study; if one follows it for the sake of oneself or
one's friends, or on moral grounds, it is not illiberal, [20] but the man who follows the same pursuit
because of other people would often appear to be acting in a menial and servile manner. The branches
of study at present established fall into both classes, as was said before.2 There are perhaps four
customary subjects of education, reading and writing, gymnastics, music, and fourth, with some people,
drawing; reading and writing and drawing being taught as being useful for the purposes of life and very
serviceable, and gymnastics as contributing to manly courage; but as to music, here one might raise a
question. For at present most people take part in it for the sake of pleasure; but those, who originally
included it in education did so because, as has often been said, nature itself seeks to be able not only to
engage rightly in business but also to occupy leisure nobly; forto speak about it yet again3this is the
first principle of all things. For if although both business and leisure are necessary, yet leisure is more
desirable and more fully an end than business, we must inquire what is the proper occupation of leisure.
For assuredly it should not be employed in play, since it would follow that play is our end in life. But if
this is impossible, and sports should rather be employed in our times of business (for a man who is at
work needs rest, and rest is the object of play, while business is accompanied by toil and exertion), it
follows that in introducing sports we must watch the right opportunity for their employment, since we
are applying them to serve as medicine; for the activity of play is a relaxation of the soul, and serves as
recreation because of its pleasantness. [1338a] [1] But leisure seems itself to contain pleasure and
happiness and felicity of life. And this is not possessed by the busy but by the leisured; for the busy man
busies himself for the sake of some end as not being in his possession, but happiness is an end achieved,
which all men think is accompanied by pleasure and not by pain. But all men do not go on to define this
pleasure in the same way, but according to their various natures and to their own characters, and the
pleasure with which the best man thinks that happiness is conjoined is the best pleasure and the one
arising from the noblest sources. So that it is clear that some subjects must be learnt and acquired
merely with a view to the pleasure in their pursuit, and that these studies and these branches of learning
are ends in themselves, while the forms of learning related to business are studied as necessary and as
means to other things. Hence our predecessors included music in education not as a necessity (for there
is nothing necessary about it), nor as useful (in the way in which reading and writing are useful for
business and for household management and for acquiring learning and for many pursuits of civil life,
while drawing also seems to be useful in making us better judges of the works of artists), nor yet again as
we pursue gymnastics, [20] for the sake of health and strength (for we do not see either of these things
produced as a result of music); it remains therefore that it is useful as a pastime in leisure, which is
evidently the purpose for which people actually introduce it, for they rank it as a form of pastime that
they think proper for free men. For this reason Homer wrote thus: But him alone 'Tis meet to summon
to the festal banquet4; and after these words he speaks of certain others Who call the bard that he
may gladden all.5 And also in other verses Odysseus says that this is the best pastime, when, as men
are enjoying good cheer, The banqueters, seated in order due Throughout the hall, may hear a minstrel
sing.6 It is clear therefore that there is a form of education in which boys should be trained not
because it is useful or necessary but as being liberal and noble; though whether there is one such
subject of education or several, and what these are and how they are to be pursued, must be discussed
later,7 but as it is we have made this much progress on the way, that we have some testimony even from
the ancients, derived from the courses of education which they foundedfor the point is proved by
music. And it is also clear that some of the useful subjects as well ought to be studied by the young not
only because of their utility, like the study of reading and writing, but also because they may lead on to
many other branches of knowledge; and similarly they should study drawing not in order that they may
not go wrong in their private purchases and may avoid being cheated in buying and selling furniture,
[1338b] [1] but rather because this study makes a man observant of bodily beauty; and to seek for utility
everywhere is entirely unsuited to men that are great-souled and free. And since it is plain that
education by habit must come before education by reason, and training of the body before training of
the mind, it is clear from these considerations that the boys must be handed over to the care of the
wrestling-master and the trainer; for the latter imparts a certain quality to the habit of the body and the
former to its actions. Now at the present time some of the states reputed to pay the greatest attention
to children produce in them an athletic habit8 to the detriment of their bodily form and growth, while
the Spartans although they have avoided this error yet make their boys animal in nature by their
laborious exercises, in the belief that this is most contributory to manly courage. Yet, as has often been
said, it is not right to regulate education with a view to one virtue only, or to this one most of all; indeed
they do not even investigate the question whether this virtue is to be had in view at all. For neither in
the lower animals nor in the case of foreign races do we see that courage goes with the wildest, but
rather with the gentler and lion-like temperaments.9 And there are many [20] foreign races inclined to
murder and cannibalism, for example among the tribes of the Black Sea the Achaeans and Heniochi, and
others of the mainland races, some in the same degree as those named and some more, which although
piratical have got no share of manly courage. And again we know that even the Spartans, although so
long as they persisted by themselves in their laborious exercises they surpassed all other peoples, now
fall behind others both in gymnastic and in military contests; for they used not to excel because they
exercised their young men in this fashion but only because they trained and their adversaries did not.
Consequently honor and not animal ferocity should play the first part; for it is not a wolf nor one of the
other wild animals that will venture upon any noble hazard, but rather a good man. But those who let
boys pursue these hard exercises too much and turn them out untrained in necessary things in real truth
render them vulgar, making them available for statesmanship to use for one task only, and even for this
task training them worse than others do, as our argument proves. And10 we must not judge them from
their former achievements but from the facts of today; for they have rivals in their education now, but
they used to have none before. It is therefore agreed that we should employ gymnastic training, and
how we should employ it. For until puberty we should apply lighter exercises, forbidding hard diet and
severe exertions, in order that nothing may hinder the growth; [1339a] [1] for there is no small proof
that too severe training can produce this result in the fact that in the list of Olympic victors one would
only find two or three persons who have won both as men and as boys, because when people go into
training in youth the severe exercises rob them of their strength. But when they have spent three years
after puberty upon their other studies, then it is suitable to occupy the next period of life with laborious
exercises and strict training diet11; for it is wrong to work hard with the mind and the body at the same
time; for it is the nature of the two different sorts of exertion to produce opposite effects, bodily toil
impeding the development of the mind and mental toil that of the body. About music on the other hand
we have previously raised some questions in the course of our argument, but it is well to take them up
again and carry them further now, in order that this may give the key so to speak for the principles which
one might advance in pronouncing about it. For it is not easy to say precisely what potency it possesses,
nor yet for the sake of what object one should participate in itwhether for amusement and relaxation,
as one indulges in sleep and deep drinking (for these in themselves are not serious pursuits but merely
pleasant, and relax our care, as Euripides says12; owing to which people actually class music with them
and [20] employ all of these things, sleep, deep drinking and music, in the same way, and they also place
dancing in the same class); or whether we ought rather to think that music tends in some degree to
virtue (music being capable of producing a certain quality of character just as gymnastics are capable of
producing a certain quality of body, music accustoming men to be able to rejoice rightly); or that it
contributes something to intellectual entertainment13 and culture (for this must be set down as a third
alternative among those mentioned). Now it is not difficult to see that one must not make amusement
the object of the education of the young; for amusement does not go with learninglearning is a painful
process. Nor yet moreover is it suitable to assign intellectual entertainment to boys and to the young; for
a thing that is an end does not belong to anything that is imperfect. But perhaps it might be thought that
the serious pursuits of boys are for the sake of amusement when they have grown up to be men. But, if
something of this sort is the case, why should the young need to learn this accomplishment themselves,
and not, like the Persian and Median kings, participate in the pleasure and the education of music by
means of others performing it? for those who have made music a business and profession must
necessarily perform better than those who practise only long enough to learn. But if it is proper for them
to labor at accomplishments of this sort, then it would also be right for them to prepare the dishes of an
elaborate cuisine; but this is absurd. And the same difficulty also arises as to the question whether
learning music can improve their characters; for why should they learn to perform edifying music
themselves, [1339b] [1] instead of learning to enjoy it rightly and be able to judge it when they hear
others performing, as the Spartans do? for the Spartans although they do not learn to perform can
nevertheless judge good and bad music correctly, so it is said. And the same argument applies also if
music is to be employed for refined enjoyment and entertainment; why need people learn to perform
themselves instead of enjoying music played by others? And we may consider the conception that we
have about the gods: Zeus does not sing and harp to the poets himself. But professional musicians we
speak of as vulgar people, and indeed we think it not manly to perform music, except when drunk or for
fun. But perhaps these points will have to be considered afterwards; our first inquiry is whether music
ought not or ought to be included in education, and what is its efficacy among the three uses of it that
have been discusseddoes it serve for education or amusement or entertainment? It is reasonable to
reckon it under all of these heads, and it appears to participate in them all. Amusement is for the sake of
relaxation, and relaxation must necessarily be pleasant, for it is a way of curing the pain due to laborious
work; also entertainment ought admittedly to be not only honorable but also pleasant, for happiness is
derived from both honor and pleasure; [20] but we all pronounce music to be one of the pleasantest
things, whether instrumental or instrumental and vocal music together (at least Musaeus14 says, Song
is man's sweetest joy, and that is why people with good reason introduce it at parties and
entertainments, for its exhilarating effect), so that for this reason also one might suppose that the
younger men ought to be educated in music. For all harmless pleasures are not only suitable for the
ultimate object but also for relaxation; and as it but rarely happens for men to reach their ultimate
object, whereas they often relax and pursue amusement not so much with some ulterior object but
because of the pleasure of it, it would be serviceable to let them relax at intervals in the pleasures
derived from music. But it has come about that men make amusements an end; for the end also perhaps
contains a certain pleasure, but not any ordinary pleasure, and seeking this they take the other as being
this because it has a certain resemblance to the achievement of the end of their undertakings. For the
end is desirable not for the sake of anything that will result from it, and also pleasures of the sort under
consideration are not desirable for the sake of some future result, but because of things that have
happened already, for instance labor and pain. One might then perhaps assume this to be the reason
which causes men to seek to procure happiness by means of those pleasures; but in the case of taking
part in music, this is not because of this reason only, but also because performing music is useful, as it
seems, for relaxation. But nevertheless we must examine whether it is not the case that, although this
has come about, [1340a] [1] yet the nature of music is more honorable than corresponds with the
employment of it mentioned, and it is proper not only to participate in the common pleasure that
springs from it, which is perceptible to everybody (for the pleasure contained in music is of a natural
kind, owing to which the use of it is dear to those of all ages and characters), but to see if its influence
reaches also in a manner to the character and to the soul. And this would clearly be the case if we are
affected in our characters in a certain manner by it. But it is clear that we are affected in a certain
manner, both by many other kinds of music and not least by the melodies of Olympus15; for these
admittedly make our souls enthusiastic, and enthusiasm is an affection of the character of the soul. And
moreover everybody when listening to imitations16 is thrown into a corresponding state of feeling, even
apart from the rhythms and tunes themselves.17 And since it is the case that music is one of the things
that give pleasure, and that virtue has to do with feeling delight and love and hatred rightly, there is
obviously nothing that it is more needful to learn and become habituated to than to judge correctly and
to delight in virtuous characters and noble actions; but rhythms and melodies contain representations of
anger [20] and mildness, and also of courage and temperance and all their opposites and the other
moral qualities, that most closely correspond to the true natures of these qualities (and this is clear from
the facts of what occurswhen we listen to such representations we change in our soul); and
habituation in feeling pain and delight at representations of reality is close to feeling them towards
actual reality (for example, if a man delights in beholding the statue of somebody for no other reason
than because of its actual form, the actual sight of the person whose statue he beholds must also of
necessity give him pleasure); and it is the case that whereas the other objects of sensation contain no
representation of character, for example the objects of touch and taste (though the objects of sight do so
slightly, for there are forms that represent character, but only to a small extent, and not18 all men
participate in visual perception of such qualities; also visual works of art are not representations of
character but rather the forms and colors produced are mere indications of character, and these
indications are only bodily sensations during the emotions; not but what in so far as there is a difference
even in regard to the observation of these indications,19 the young must not look at the works of Pauson
but those of Polygnotus,20 and of any other moral painter or sculptor), pieces of music on the contrary
do actually contain in them selves imitations of character; and this is manifest, for even in the nature of
the mere melodies there are differences, so that people when hearing them are affected differently and
have not the same feelings in regard to each of them, but listen to some in a more mournful and
restrained state, [1340b] [1] for instance the mode called Mixolydian, and to others in a softer state of
mind, but in a midway state and with the greatest composure to another, as the Dorian mode alone of
tunes seems to act, while the Phrygian makes men enthusiastic; for these things are well stated by those
who have studied this form of education, as they derive the evidence for their theories from the actual
facts of experience. And the same holds good about the rhythms also, for some have a more stable and
others a more emotional character, and of the latter some are more vulgar in their emotional effects and
others more liberal. From these considerations therefore it is plain that music has the power of
producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it has the power to do this, it is clear
that the young must be directed to music and must be educated in it. Also education in music is well
adapted to the youthful nature; for the young owing to their youth cannot endure any thing not
sweetened by pleasure, and music is by nature a thing that has a pleasant sweetness. And we seem to
have a certain affinity with tunes and rhythms; owing to which many wise men say either that the soul is
a harmony or that it has harmony.21 [20] We ought now to decide the question raised earlier, whether
the young ought to learn music by singing and playing themselves or not. It is not difficult to see that it
makes a great difference in the process of acquiring a certain quality whether one takes a part in the
actions that impart it oneself; for it is a thing that is impossible, or difficult, to become a good judge of
performances if one has not taken part in them. At the same time also boys must have some occupation,
and one must think Archytas's rattle22 a good invention, which people give to children in order that
while occupied with this they may not break any of the furniture; for young things cannot keep still.
Whereas then a rattle is a suitable occupation for infant children, education serves as a rattle for young
people when older. Such considerations therefore prove that children should be trained in music so as
actually to take part in its performance; and it is not difficult to distinguish what is suitable and
unsuitable for various ages, and to refute those who assert that the practice of music is vulgar. For first,
inasmuch as it is necessary to take part in the performances for the sake of judging them, it is therefore
proper for the pupils when young actually to engage in the performances, though when they get older
they should be released from performing, but be able to judge what is beautiful and enjoy it rightly
because of the study in which they engaged in their youth. Then as to the objection raised by some
people that music makes people vulgar, it is not difficult to solve it by considering how far pupils who are
being educated with a view to civic virtue should take part in the actual performance of music, [1341a]
[1] and in what times and what rhythms they should take part, and also what kinds of instruments
should be used in their studies, as this naturally makes a difference. For the solution of the objection
depends upon these points, as it is quite possible that some modes of music do produce the result
mentioned. It is manifest therefore that the study of music must not place a hindrance in the way of
subsequent activities, nor vulgarize the bodily frame and make it useless for the exercises of the soldier
and the citizen, either for their practical pursuit now or for their scientific study later on.23 And this
would come about in respect of their study if the pupils did not go on toiling at the exercises that aim at
professional competitions, nor the wonderful and elaborate performances which have now entered into
the competitions and have passed from the competitions into education, but also only practised
exercises not of that sort until they are able to enjoy beautiful tunes and rhythms, and not merely the
charm common to all music, which even some lower animals enjoy, as well as a multitude of slaves and
children. And it is also clear from these considerations what sort of instruments they should use. Flutes
must not be introduced into education, nor any other professional instrument, such as the harp or any
other of that sort, but [20] such instruments as will make them attentive pupils either at their musical
training or in their other lessons. Moreover the flute is not a moralizing but rather an exciting influence,
so that it ought to be used for occasions of the kind at which attendance has the effect of purification
rather than instruction.24 And let us add that the flute happens to possess the additional property
telling against its use in education that playing it prevents the employment of speech. Hence former ages
rightly rejected its use by the young and the free, although at first they had employed it. For as they
came to have more leisure because of their wealth and grew more high-spirited and valorous, both at a
still earlier date and because after the Persian Wars they were filled with pride as a result of their
achievements, they began to engage in all branches of learning, making no distinction but pursuing
research further. Because of this they even included flute-playing among their studies; for in Sparta a
certain chorus-leader played the flute to his chorus himself,25 and at Athens it became so fashionable
that almost the majority of freemen went in for flute-playing, as is shown by the tablet erected by
Thrasippus after having provided the chorus for Ecphantides.26 But later on it came to be disapproved of
as a result of actual experience, when men were more capable of judging what music conduced to virtue
and what did not; and similarly also many of the old instruments were disapproved of, like the pectis and
the barbitos27 and the instruments designed to give pleasure to those who hear people playing them,28
the septangle, the triangle and the sambyc,29 [1341b] [1] and all the instruments that require manual
skill.And indeed there is a reasonable foundation for the story that was told by the ancients about the
flute. The tale goes that Athena found a flute and threw it away. Now it is not a bad point in the story
that the goddess did this out of annoyance because of the ugly distortion of her features; but as a matter
of fact it is more likely that it was because education in flute-playing has no effect on the intelligence,
whereas we attribute science and art to Athena. And since we reject professional education in the
instruments and in performance30 (and we count performance in competitions as professional, for the
performer does not take part in it for his own improvement, but for his hearers' pleasure, and that a
vulgar pleasure, owing to which we do not consider performing to be proper for free men, but
somewhat menial; and indeed performers do become vulgar, since the object at which they aim is a low
one, as vulgarity in the audience usually influences the music, so that it imparts to the artists who
practise it with a view to suit the audience a special kind of personality, and also of bodily frame because
of the movements required)we must therefore give some consideration to tunes and rhythms, [20]
and to the question whether for educational purposes we must employ all the tunes and all the rhythms
or make distinctions; and next, whether for those who are working at music for education we shall lay
down the same regulation, or ought we to establish some other third one (inasmuch as we see that the
factors in music are melody and rhythm, and it is important to notice what influence each of these has
upon education), and whether we are to prefer music with a good melody or music with a good rhythm.
Now we consider that much is well said on these matters by some of the musicians of the present day
and by some of those engaged in philosophy who happen to be experienced in musical education, and
we will abandon the precise discussion as to each of these matters for any who wish it to seek it from
those teachers, while for the present let us lay down general principles, merely stating the outlines of
the subjects. And since we accept the classification of melodies made by some philosophers, as ethical
melodies, melodies of action, and passionate melodies,31 distributing the various harmonies among
these classes as being in nature akin to one or the other, and as we say that music ought to be employed
not for the purpose of one benefit that it confers but on account of several (for it serves the purpose
both of education and of purgationthe term purgation we use for the present without explanation, but
we will return to discuss the meaning that we give to it more explicitly in our treatise on poetry32and
thirdly it serves for amusement, serving to relax our tension and to give rest from it), [1342a] [1] it is
clear that we should employ all the harmonies, yet not employ them all in the same way, but use the
most ethical ones for education, and the active and passionate kinds for listening to when others are
performing (for any experience that occurs violently in some souls is found in all, though with different
degrees of intensityfor example pity and fear, and also religious excitement; for some persons are very
liable to this form of emotion, and under the influence of sacred music we see these people, when they
use tunes that violently arouse the soul, being thrown into a state as if they had received medicinal
treatment and taken a purge; the same experience then must come also to the compassionate and the
timid and the other emotional people generally in such degree as befalls each individual of these classes,
and all must undergo a purgation and a pleasant feeling of relief; and similarly also the purgative
melodies afford harmless delight to people). Therefore those who go in for theatrical music must be set
to compete in harmonies and melodies of this kind (and since the audience is of two classes, one
freemen and educated people, and the other [20] the vulgar class composed of mechanics and laborers
and other such persons, the latter sort also must be assigned competitions and shows for relaxation; and
just as their souls are warped from the natural state, so those harmonies and melodies that are highly
strung and irregular in coloration33 are deviations, but people of each sort receive pleasure from what is
naturally suited to them, owing to which the competitors before an audience of this sort must be
allowed to employ some such kind of music as this); but for education, as has been said,34 the ethical
class of melodies and of harmonies must be employed. And of that nature is the Dorian mode, as we
said before35; but we must also accept any other mode that those who take part in the pursuit of
philosophy and in musical education may recommend to us. Socrates in the Republic36 does not do well
in allowing only the Phrygian mode along with the Dorian, and that when he has rejected the flute
among instruments; [1342b] [1] for the Phrygian mode has the same effect among harmonies as the
flute among instrumentsboth are violently exciting and emotional. This is shown by poetry; for all
Bacchiac versification and all movement of that sort37 belongs particularly to the flute among the
instruments, and these meters find their suitable accompaniment in tunes in the Phrygian mode among
the harmonies: for example the dithyramb is admittedly held to be a Phrygian meter, and the experts on
this subject adduce many instances to prove this, particularly the fact that Philoxenus when he
attempted to compose a dithyramb, The Mysians, in the Dorian mode was unable to do so, but merely
by the force of nature fell back again into the suitable harmony, the Phrygian. And all agree that the
Dorian mode is more sedate and of a specially manly character. Moreover since we praise and say that
we ought to pursue the mean between extremes, and the Dorian mode has this nature in relation to the
other harmonies, it is clear that it suits the younger pupils to be educated rather in the Dorian melodies.
But there are two objects to aim at, the possible as well as the suitable; for we are bound rather to
attempt the things that are possible and those that are suitable for the particular class of people
concerned; [20] and in these matters also there are dividing lines drawn by the agesfor instance, those
whose powers have waned through lapse of time cannot easily sing the highly strung harmonies, but to
persons of that age nature suggests the relaxed harmonies. Therefore some musical experts also rightly
criticize Socrates38 because he disapproved of the relaxed harmonies for amusement, taking them to
have the character of intoxication, not in the sense of the effect of strong drink, for that clearly has more
the result of making men frenzied revellers, but as failing in power. Hence even with a view to the period
of life that is to follow, that of the comparatively old, it is proper to engage in the harmonies and
melodies of this kind too, and also any kind of harmony that is suited to the age of boyhood because it is
capable of being at once decorous and educative, which seems to be the nature of the Lydian mode
most of all the harmonies. It is clear therefore that we should lay down these three canons to guide
education, moderation, possibility and suitability.

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